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'AUTHOR
TITLE

__ ~->-"

ANCIENT INDIA
Number
2

NOTES
1 The present issue of Ancient India includes a paper to which special editorial It relates to a site known as *Ankamedu\ near Pondicherry attention may be drawn on the tropical Coromandel coast, where local French antiquaries have been digging intermittently in recent years, and where, by generous permission of the French authorities, the Archaeological Survey of India conducted a short but intensive excavation in the The results of that excavation are of a burning months of April, May and June, 1945 potential importance out of all proportion to the extent of the work 2 To appreciate this importance, it is necessary to recall two things* first, the remarkable extent of the archaeological material recovered during the past century in a variety of wavs from a variety of pre-medieval sites in South India and secondly, our abysmal ignorance of the context, cultural and chronological, of the greater part of the material There have been a few industrious pioneers and collectors notably question Rea and Foote \vho have dug from time to time from an honest curiosity or as a mode of But the value still attached to the collectors' catalogues (where catalogues collection exist) is a measure no less of our lack of basic knowledge than of an invincible zest for it For these catalogues, however well mtentioned, do not contain, save in the broadest and Their contribution to knowledge vaguest sense, even the raw stuff of constructive science a contribution for which a proper gratitude is due is restricted to the presentation of disjected phenomena which they neither explain nor correlate It is matter for regret, not for congratulation, that the Ankamedu excavation of 1945 was almost the first occasion on which the normal principles of modern archaeological field-technique have been applied South India 3 North India has been better served Taxila, Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Chanhudaro are all (or shortly will be) the subject of monographs wiuch record considered fieldwork and research during the past thirty years Nothing of this sort is available for the And yet historical conjecture, both inside and outside India, has for many years South dwelt upon the possible significance of the 'Dravidians' of the South in the development of Asiatic civilization of supposed links between them and the Sumenans, with the Brahui of Baluchistan as an isolated memorial of former movement, one way or the other, between South India and Western Asia To archaeologists the detailed resemblance of some of the megahthic monuments of South India to others of Western Asia, North Africa and Europe has long been an alluring and baffling problem alluring as presenting a possible 1 round link in the early development of human thought am * ^ the world , baffling because we still know less about any * It is high time that tropical India ha< other country , v v -^ em of 4 In this connection it may here be recorded the megaliths of South India has now at last been tak DR B R AMBEDKAR OPEN UNIVERSE ogical
,

'

"__._--

ANCIEN1 INDIA, NO
Survey

appointed for the specific duty of dealing with the prehistoric India, has been given the primary task of investigating and classifying the megaliths and urn-fields of the South, and has now been at work for several months with substantial results which will be described here in due course The task is a long and involved one, but, if earned to its conclusion, will undoubtedly succeed in producing at
officer, recently

An

monuments of

least

a considerable part of the missing information Meanwhile, in the present number Mr. Srmi\asan approaches the problem from a study of the ancient Tamil literature bearing on the subject 5 This brings us back to Arikamedu The special value of the site lies in the fact that, m addition to being an Indian town and port, it was also a centre of trade with the Graeco-Roman world, and the relics recovered from it include pottery and other objects of known origin and date from the much-studied Mediterranean area The associated Indian culture is thus dated with precision, and thereby achieves the distinction of being
ancient Indian culture to be dated archaeological ly the Indian peninsula In is culturally a 'bilingual' one, the unknown local culture is dated from the known foreign culture, just as Egyptian hieroglyphs were partlv deciphered from the parallel Greek version on the Rosetta stone, or Kharoshthl from the bilingual inscriptions on It is not, of course, claimed that Ankamedu will in any sense the Indo-Bactnan coins rival the far-reaching historical importance of the former of these analogues, but in its way it will have a significance of a comparable kind For the first time it provides a firm datum-line from which the classification of pre-medieval South Indian cultures can begin Already sites in the Chitaldrug district of northern Mysore take the Ankamedu chronology half-way across the peninsula, and incidentally hold out the possibility of stratigraphical contacts with an adjacent megalith-culture, whilst these sites in turn link up with others in the southern part of the Bombay Presidency, and so carry the chain of evidence from sea To J.he north-east, analogies noted at the famous site of AmaravatI bring a capital to sea It may be prophesied that future work, city of the Andhra country within our compass planned methodically and executed with discrimination, will quickly establish the widespread usefulness of the three months' digging carried out last year at Ankamedu Another article in this number provides the context for a series of new photographs 6 of an early medieval sculpture which is familiar to all students of Indian art and iconography but is peculiarly difficult to illustrate Set a fashion worthy of its high distinction deeply in their niche within the great cave-temple of Elephanta Island, the gigantic rockthe
first

effect the site

hewn heads of
unalleviated

the triple Siva impend upon the spectator in the dim glow of oil-lamps or in Even the experienced gloom brooding and awesome m a twilight of the gods skill of Dr Kramrisch and Mr Neogy have scarcely succeeded nor would they claim to have done so in subduing the mechanism of the camera to the mystery of the scene but they have wrought with more success than their predecessors, and their photographs are the best yet published of this elusive theme Furthermore, the opportunity is taken by Dr Kramrisch to re-study the iconography of the group 7 For the rest, space has been given to the reproduction of a recent address on the scientific aspects of modern archaeology At a time when scientific development has become almost a synonym for 'progress' in the planning of India's future, it is worth proclaiming
, ,

Man himself is not without its needs in this category Indeed, the old platitude of the indivisibility of Past, Present and Future has been brought home afresh recent years by the scientific investigation of phenomena such as food -plants or bloodgroups studies which are now almost as germane to Archaeology as to Agriculture, Health
that the study of

or Post-war Planning The modern requirements of archaeology do not of course end To-day, dynastic history and legend, language, epigraphy and numismatics, no the development Vast ages vital longer monopolize the investigation of the human past
there

of the cultures and civilizations of India exclude all these studies Let us not forget the traditional curriculum, but let us constantly remember the need for enlarging its scope, for enquiring into the material things climate, geography, the changing courses of rivers, rocks and their minerals, the soils of varying fertility which have shaped the destiny of Man and must be understood if we are to understand him Archaeology in India is blest
effort,

the world With a proper with a wealth and variety of material unsurpassed elsewhere But a primary need is an enlargement of it can rival that of any other country outlook, a fuller comprehension of the natural sciences as ancillanes to humanistic research a more sustained urge on the part of our students of archaeology and history to supplement the study of the great literature which they have inherited by exploring, at first hand, the Good Earth which is India and is a heritage no less relevant to their enquiry

R E

M W

THE IMAGE OF MAHADEVA IN THE CAVE-TEMPLE ON ELEPHANTA ISLAND

By STELLA KRAMRISCH
The great rock-cut Siva temple on Elephanta Island is one of the best-known monuments kind in India, by reason partly of the grandeur of its sculptures and partly oj its Nevertheless the colossal carving of triple-headed Siva which looms proximity to Bombay out of the rock in the innermost recess of the cave has never been adequately illustrated The dim, unemphatic light which gives it an added quality of power ana mystery does not facilitate the task of the photographer Recently, however, Mr Pnthwish Neogy, one of Professor Stella Kramrisch's pupils in the University of Calcutta, experimented with sunreflectors and artificial light and supervised the taking of a number of new photographs, some of which are here reproduced (pis I-VII) The triune head which, with its shoulders, rises to a height of 17 feet 10 inches above a moulded base, itself nearly 3 feet high, faces the principal (northern) entrance of the temple at the end of a double row of seven pillars This vista in fact cuts across the major structural axis, which lies east and west, with the hnga-shnne standing free within the western end (fig 7)

of

its

Nevertheless the huge Siva panel is the focus of the whole design Like the doorways Behind, itself, it is guarded by d\drapdlas or doorkeepers, each some 13 feet high two pilasters flank a recess 10% feet deep, within which the heads emerge cliff-like from In the highest relief, they have at the same time a proper attachment to the native rock their material environment and something of the independence and imminent mobility of

of the shrine

sculpture in the round This is not the conte\t in which to discuss the plan of the temple or the features of the other sculptures which adorn it Suffice it to say that, though not dated bv inscription, the type of column used, with amid capital and circular fluted shaft springing from a rectangular and pier, is of a kind which was in use at Bdddmi in the latter part of the sixth century A was still in use at Ellora two centuries later On this evidence the cave is ascribed to the seventh or eighth century A The more subjective evidence of sculptural stvle may be thought to point to the earlier of the two centuries Certainly the bold and vital handling of mass is consistent with the age which, alike in the south and the north of India, saw the first complete fulfilment of medieval art

The image

Dr Kramnsch

is that of Siva in the form of Mahesa, the Great re-interprets the iconography of the work

Lord

In the following article,

In great sculpture of Mahadeva is an image of the fully manifest Supreme Siva is the face of Tatpurusha, the faces of Aghora and Vamadeva are collateral of the shoulders belongs to the central face , the chest, showing but the It is as if breathing and holding the breath, slightest modelling, is smooth and young as is shown by the ebbing curves of the necklace laid on its raised surface It is hemmed on the right and the left by the hands , the right hand is raised it is damaged the left rests on the base and holds a ripe fruit with its point up The shoulders are also those of the lateral faces These are turned against them, and it is on their backs that their hands come to rest The one on the spectator's left, belonging to the wrathful face, has a serpent rearing its head from between its fingers, while the one on the right, belonging to the blissful face, holds a lotus flower and is delicately poised on the shoulder Thus beset with emblems and hands, their fingers pointing upwards in the middle of the bust,
the THE middle The breadth

THE IMAGE OF MAHADEVA IN THE CAVE-TEMPLE ON ELEPHANTA ISLAND

where they rest upon the shoulders, the broad body fills the width of the recess an altar beset with offerings The middle boldly projecting, the frontal image surges upwards straight and strong as a pillar, with silence on its face and radiance on its crown The heads on the and
closing
like

repeat the ascent of the central pillar, clinging to it collaterally with their high curving crowns, and forming with it the outline of a strong triple arch which firmly binds together the outline of the triple image the
left

right

LLEPHANTA ISLAND

PLAN OF MAIN CAVE

(T)

MAHADEVA
APDHANAQls'VARA - ^IVA PACVATl IN ATTITUDE OF MAN A

(g)

(D
(3)

(D
(J)

NATARAJA - ^IVA ANDHAKA5UQAVADHAMUQTI - s'lVA

-SIVA SHRINE.

@) ()

QAVANA UNDER KAIL ASA

SIVA AS
LAKULIS'A

() <)

KALVANA3UNDARAMURTI GANG ADH AC A -SIVA

1

- s'lVA

FIG

The three faces are each steeped in its own mood, a closed world, each silent, unseeing, each turned away from the other, but each blossoming in generous curves round the stem whence they originate and derive their stability They are carved in wideJv sweeping surfaces which bind the crowned triune head in depth just as the triple 'arch' binds it Hands and flowers, hair and jewels are laid against the smoothness vertically serpent, of face and body Each face has its own physiognomy, each crown correspondingly its own ornaments, the hands their respective symbols, but they are upheld and comprised by the power and unity of the total image

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

The Vishnudharmottara speaks of the five faces of &va (&ambhor=vadana~panchakarri) They face the four directions They are Isana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva, Sadyojata the first face, the highest, is not carved, as a rule, on those images which are known as
1
,

pancha-mukha-hnga* the five-faced sign or symbol

in the

Pancha-mukha-hngas have four faces, four directions, they are carved against the central linga pillar whose rounded top surmounts them * Although four faces only are generally carved, they too need not all be visible three, two or one face only is required to be shown if the innermost sanctuary in which stands the linga has four, three, two or one door respectively Mantras The names of the five faces are those of the five mantra :, Sadyojata, etc are rhythmical formulae, they evoke a supernatural presence, each mantra conjures up a The rhythmic spell compels and corresponding vision of that supernatural presence
,
' 1 l

its 'body' Thus it is said of Siva, the Supreme Spirit (Paramdtman), that his 5 It is made visible in the shape of a sign (linga) The linga is body is mantra (\idvd) composed of mantras and is to be regarded as the body of Siva, the place where he is present. Four of these mantras occupy the four regions of the manifested world and the fifth, Isana lies beyond them, in the central direction From there, it is at the same time everywhere,

constitutes

a subtle luminous presence It condenses into a celestial light (divva-hnga) equivalent to the vibrations released by the recitation of the respective mantras The di\ \a-hnga, which is Tatpurusha, forms the central 'root pillar' (mula-\tambha) of celestial light, Vamadesa however is the hnga, installed and consecrated on its base In the 'root pillar everything ' has its origin and finally ends in it Thus, it is said, it was called the linga By the evocative power of the mantras, Siva is realized throughout the universe, the universe is His body (sarira)* , this body is of pure Energy (saktika <arira), containing all the elements, itself the primordial substance (pradhana) of the moving universe

The 'body of Siva

is

'

given a face

m every direction,
fifth

the sign (linga) of Him who pervades the universe, faces all directions, the faces are summed up and represented at the cardinal
direction
its

Each face conveys a particular aspect of Siva, and its nature Certain signs also of identification are laid down in one hand, and a the texts, Tatpurusha holds the matulunga or bijapuraka, a citron, The bijapuraka is full of the atoms of the seeds ol this rosary (akshamala) in the other
physiognomy
indicates

points and in the

fl

1 I&ina is the first 'form' m the hierarchy of manifestation of the Supreme Si\a Fatpurusha is next and is followed by \ghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata, they arc thus also likened to the elements of which the universe

consists, the

first

dharmottara,

III,

being ether, invisible and everywhere, the others are xlvm, 1-3)

air,

hre,

vsater

and earth (\i\hnu-

2 The It was pancha-mukha-ltnga from the Si\a temple at Nachna-kuthara is the most perfect of as kind carved in the later Gupta age 3 IV 94 T A Gopmatha Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography II (Madras, 1914), 97 Rupamana'ana, A fhaturmukha, etc linga may however also be placed in a shrine with one door only
,

The

five

mantra* are given

in the

Taitnrtya Aranyaka, X, 4V-47

1

tidnasna-gurudeva-paddhatt, Cf Rao, op cit , p 366

III, v,

Suprabhedagama

Rao, op

cit

Vishnudharmotiara (referred to as

V Dh

below),

III,

xlvm, 20

The dhyanaIsanaiiva-gurudeva-paddhati (referred to as IP below), III, xn, 35, Rupamanfana, IV, 12-11 slokav the various texts are not identical in detail There are as many, jf not necessarily the same, variations there as the images The vision held by signs and words is the same different ages and different schools

see

it

under particular modifications

The Vishnudharmottara,

III,

xlvm,

9,

assigns to the face

in

front

(Mahadeva) the rosary and the water- vessel (kamantfalu) instead of the citron (matulunga or bijapuraka)

To face page 6

PLATE

The Mahad*. \a oj Elephant a Island

PLATE

ft

To face Plate

III

To face Plate

II

PLATE HI

\liihadc\a of h.k phuuru Inland

(Scale ot Uci)

PLATE

IV

To face Plate V

The MaluuU MI of I hphanta

/ \lnnJ

Jo fate

r/tttc /I

PLATE V

7/a

\ftilul(U\ti of niephatitti

I^hnhl

Taiputmha

(Scale ot Ivcl)

PLATE

VI

To fm

c Plate

II

\lahadt\a of hlephunta

\\tathjul

To face Plate VI

PLATE

VII

The \1uhath\tiolEItphantal\lanti
(Scale ol teet)

Aniadeiti

tin

THE IMAGE OF MAHADEVA IN THE CAVE-TEMPLE ON ELEPHANTA ISLAND

2 In his crown of universe , the rosary is a symbol of the re-mtegration of this world matted locks Tatpurusha wears the crescent of the moon ; it is its sixteenth digit (ama-kala\ 3 Aghora is fierce, terrific, symbol of perfectedness and the power of the Lord (aitvaryd) 4 Vamadeva is handsome, he is like Time (Kdla) itself, serpent and skull belong to him
1

'woman's delight' B The Vnhnudharmottara, moreover, knows the five faces of Siva under a double set of names The first series, Hana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojata, belongs to the Supreme Siva in his mental 'body of mantras* they are the faces of the five-faced
,

linga

The second

set

of names
is

is

SadaSiva, Mahadeva, Bhairava,

Uma

and

Nandm

Thus

the face in the middle side and Vamadeva or

Uma

that of Tatpurusha-Mahadeva , Aghora-Bhairava is on the one on the other The latter face, which is that of the Beauteous

God

(Vamadeva),

is

also that of the

Goddess Uma, who

is

Siva's Sakti, inseparably part of

his nature

The second set of names denotes the faces of the Supreme Siva, fully manifest he is the 'Great Lord \ Mahesa 7 Thus was carved the image of Mahadeva in Elephanta It is symbol and image,
,

hn%a and murti,

this

Around in one, the concrete form of the Supreme Siva, fully manifest image, in separate panels, are carved his lila-miirtis, the various forms and actions in which is displayed his divinity But the image of Mahadeva dominates the whole assemblage The It is the concrete form of Siva whose linga is worshipped in the adjacent shrine plan of the rock-cut temple and not only the disposition of the iTla-murtn was thus adjustThe stage is set for ed to the image, the entire hall is laid out in front of it in its deep recess that form (riipa) of His who is beyond form, and who pervades the universe, \\hich thus is His visible body The central pillar, the mulastamhha, rises with the face of Tatpurusha His matted The hair forms his cylindrical crown It is clasped by a diadem of wide curves clear cut serpentine locks, the splendour of the jewel crests which has its symbol in the leonine Face of Glory (kirtnmukha) in front, the crescent moon on its right, the tender, folded awka all this precious, delicately caned, intileaves of early spring, and their full flower-cups mately agitated coiffure, full of meaning, closely adheres to the shape of the central pillar and none of its subtle detail is allowed to caress the august serenity of the face The nm of the diadem with its wide curves tightly fits its planes, no curl transgresses nothing disturbs its silence The long curves of the ears are set against locks, a closely \vo\en crop that frames each of the lateral faces, capricious, viciously encircled, tumescent serpentine on Aghora-Bhairava's face, with drooping elegance they touch the cheek of the face on the right Within their symmetry, each of these two crowns is truly a part of the nature Obstinate and of that god whose face bears his name and whose hands hold his insignia coagulate, skull-adorned, the crown of Aghora-Bhairava ascends, then slopes back in a
1

V Dh,

III, xlviii,
III, xlvi

12

2
1
4

V Dh
V Dh
,

For

its

resorption by

Time

(K&la), VQchaspat)a t

s v

III, xlvin, 17
,

6 8
7

IP TIF, xii, 36-17 RUpamanfrna, IP III, xii, 18, strtMlOsa V Dh TIT, xlviii, 4-6
,

IV, 5-12

The V Dh

the um\erse and its primordial substance (prakritt) The image of MaheSvara Mahes"vara is white, as white as prakfin (Mahadeva) must originally have been painted white
is

He

the

immanent and primordial cause of

19, says that

ITT, xlviii,

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

steep angle , whereas, above its diadem, the crown of Uma, on the right, is joined in one ripe roundness to the firm pillar of Tatpurusha's crown The wrathful aspect of Aghora or Bhairava, his face bulging with the curves of frenzied life, his moustache like lightning flashing across the full lips, small and young, wrapt in its bliss, the face of Uma, yet related by a structure of interlaced curving planes , deeply silent, the triune head holds its mystery, vital and deathly on the left, knowing and blissful on the Ponderous yet weightless lips, right, and free of any attribute in the face of the middle relaxed in meditation, are the bar, the closed door, whereby the initiate and perfected alone

may

pass,

and enter the

state of Siva

THE MEGALITHIC BURIALS AND URN-FIELDS OF SOUTH INDIA OF TAMIL LITERATURE AND TRADITION
1

IN

THE LIGHT

By

K R

SRINIVASAN

Reference ha? been made above (p /) to the current suney of the megahthic monuments of South India; and of the urn-fields which appear to be in part contemporary with them These memorials of 'non- Aryan India (as it would appear} are of more than local interest In other part? of Asia, in Africa and in Europe are megahthic structures closelv similar to some of those of the Indian peninsula, and the possibility of an integral unity of ideas and expression over a large part of the earth's surface from 2,000 to 4 000 years ago lends to the At present, however, \\e know very little about enquiry an unusual potential importance the Indian monuments of this class, and, pending the results of field work, information from An Assistant Superintendent anv source, however indeterminate, is worthy of consideration in the Archaeological Survey of India who was formerly Curator of the Museum ofPudukkottai State, \\here megaliths are particularly numerous, conclusions from the evidence of Tamil literature and tradition

here

draws

certain general

an extensive literature has grown up about the numerous megahthic burials we are as yet nowhere near an accurate knowledge of their date or of the Their correct interpretation various cultural phases which they seem to represent Meanwhile it is useful to know somestill awaits the spade of the scientific archaeologist thing of the local traditions about them, and of the references to them in the literature and inscriptions of the Tamil country where they occur in such profusion,- and where a rich
India, THOUGH
in

In the present heritage of literature is extant, ranking in antiquity next only to Sanskrit paper are collected a number of references traditional, literary and epigraphical which of access to scholars not acquainted with the Tamil language and literature are difficult
Tradition

and epigraphy
sites

Megahthic
to

arc locally called kuranguppattadai, which has sometimes been taken

workshop of the monkeys* and associated with a legend relating to the monkey followed Rama A Pandya inscription of the thirteenth century from hordes Narttamalai,' relating to the endowment to the temple of lands in Taymippatti, on the
'the that

mean

other side of the hills, describes an area included within the boundaries a burial site Thus the modern name as 'strewn with large stones and containing kurakkuppadai* kuranguppattadai is a corruption of the old name kurakkuppadai or kurakkuppanadai This can only refer to the which means a sepulture or tomb lowered into the earth" stone cists 4 The name kalkuttu sometimes given in old revenue registers to these sites
4
1 Part ot a paper entitled Indian Megaliths vuth spcoil reference to Pudukkottai read before the Anthropology and Archaeology Section ol the ^Ist Indian Science Congress, Delhi. 1944 8 The results of the author's ha\e shown survey of these sites in Pudukkottai State alone (1,178 sq miles) that there are more than 80 \illages containing more than 150 groups of these ancient burials in all their variety arc at least as many in each of the other districts ot the peninsula awaiting systematic survey There * 197 Inscriptions (Texts) of the Pudukkottai State (State Press Pudukkottai, 1929), No 325, p 4 Kurakku means 'to lower or bury*, pafai may mean a bed on which one rests, the original connotation of the Sanskrit word smatSna which according to Yaska is a couch of stone (asnta-sa\ana) Patfai is

4NCIENJ INDIA, NO
is

Since the sites contain clear, meaning places where stones are planted or pitched pottery urns, they are also described by the local people as places with madamadakkaitak, which is a corruption of tnudumakkal-tah, meaning the urns or receptacles (tali) in which This is the name found in early Tamil works from the the ancients or ancestors are buried The other synonyms found in these are third century B C to the twelfth century mudu-makkat-cadi (cadi or y<//-jar) imattali (funerary urn or receptacle) or simply tali The name tali itself, indicating a large receptacle for burial, is evidently derived from

AD
k

which means 'to lower into the earth' or to bury', and the original sense in which it is An early inscription from Tirukkattalai, near Kalasakkadu is of a vessel that is buried where these urns are in plenty, denotes a certain land as andarat tali punt e\ dry land The stone circles are called karkidai (kidai* circle, of kaL stone) with buried funerary urns 8 which mentions them along with the burning-grounds of the in a Tanjore inscription Vellalar and Parai\ar in the village, and this is noticed by Mr K V Subrahmanya Aiyar The oldest extant Tamil work, Tolkdppnam (For 60). has nac/ukallhe stone planted over The name pandavakkuji prevalent in some other Tamil districts the grave, the 'menhir' may be a corruption of mandavar-kuli the burial-pit of the dead, or of bhandakkuli the Or it may be a corruption of pit in which the pots (bhanda, in Tamil pandam) are buried palndavakkuli the burial oi those who performed useless penance, as one of the beliefs in later times was that the Ajivakas or Jamas, whose penance was 'useless' in the eyes of The Todd name ularam the followers of the Vedic religion were buried m such pots means in Tamil the buridl circle (al-aram) The Kdnnadd ndme mornar-nume is difficult 4 the graves of the Sewell notices the Telugu names Rak\ha\a gullu or gdli to explain Rdkshasas and derives the name of Goli village from this Before we proceed to examine the literary references, it is of interest to mention a In the inscriptions of the few facts about the word tali of the early Tamil inscriptions early period, ranging from the seventh to eleventh century, when the Pallavas and Colas ruled the Tamil country and excavated and built stone temples the term tali always " Prior to this we ha\e literary and mscnptional denotes the sanctum of the stone temples evidences to show that temples were built of brick mortar and timber which perished The natural caverns in the hills, v\ith drip-ledges, beds and inscriptions, are the earliest monuments extant These religious resorts were not called tali but pajji or aman-pdli An early (Jama cave resorts) since they were mostly associated with the Jama ascetics referring to the excavation of a rock-cut shrine, which is inscription (ninth century The chief, who excavated called tali, is published in Inscr of Pudukkottai State, No 18 this Siva cave temple, says that 'having excavated the Tiruvalattur hill m the jorm of a tali, The expression *m the form of a tali' is significant It evidently he installed the god m it'
tal

used

'

AD)

In early Tamil inscriptions of the ninth to tenth centuries the probably a derivation from padu, to sleep or die word is used in the same sense in pulhpptujiui, by which name shrines built over the graves of the C6}a kings are referred to Patfai also means the whole or part of the strueture or cdifiee buried or overground, patfatfui is used in the sense padu, lay to rest, or paffu, to die, and atfai (atjakkam or atfakkudal), burial

Ibid, No 18, p 18 South Indian Inscriptions, Archaeological Sur\ey of India, II (1891) Part 1, No 5, p 54 K V S Aiyar, Historical Sketches of the Ancient Dekkhan (\9\7), p 359 4 R Sewell, List of Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras (Madras, 1 882), I, Topographical List, 57-58 and 60 Sec my paper 'A note on Ta)i\ Archaeological Society ofS India, Madras, July 1944 western temple ki["tali eastern temple M^rali karrajt (kal-taji) vatfa-tafi - northern temple a temple built of stones, etc
1

2
"

'

f>

10

PHE MEGALITHK BURIALS AND URN-FIELDS OF SOUTH INDIA

the form of a pre-existing type called denotes that the structure, a cell, was fashioned This does not occur tali or a rock-excavation &angam Tamil In our quest of the origin of this term, our attention is naturally drawn to the rock-cut tombs of Malabar, which happen to be the only rock-cut monuments prior to these early cave temples in the South The most famous among them is in Tah-paramba, which is the Malayalam equivalent of the Tamil term tali-parambu. and means in both cases 'the hill containing tali Thus we seem to get here what the term tali originally meant, and the or rock-cut cells' force of the expression "in the form of a talC in the inscription quoted above becomes clear Incidentally we have got here the local Tamil or pre-Tamil name for this type of funerary monument, which is peculiar to the softer latente hills of the west coast

m m

Early literature

The earliest extant works are of the 'Sangam epoch', which was the Augustan age of Tamil literature They are mainly collections of anthologies of different poets, and the two epics, Mammckhalat and Silappadikaram, arc said to belong to the close of the period, The poems of the Sangam age are realistic and prnna facie or to a period slightlv later trustworthy, they portray a civilization with advanced customs and manners, and relate The most widely anecdotes of the kings their wars and their patronage of literary men accepted date for this literature is the first three centuries of the Christian era, though some of the works or the literary tradition embodied in them may well go back to a century or The sheet-anchor for this chronology is the synchronism of the two before Christ of Ceylon who according to the Stf/Jtf<//H Cera king Senguttu\an with Gajabahu \1ahd\am\a ruled between 13 and 135 A D or 173 and 195 A D There is perfect concord between the data relating to the Tamil kings and the life of the Tamils as depicted m the Sangam anthologies on one side and the writings of the classical
1
'

authors

of

the early centuries of the Christian era (notably the compiler of the Periplus
)

The and Ptolemy and the finds of Roman coins of the early Imperial period on the other earliest stratum of Tamil literature shows the influence of the growing religions of the North and the date of this active penetration of Brahmamcal, Buddhist and lama religions We ha\e Jama into the South may well be placed in the last three centuries before Christ caverns of this date m the Tamil country, literary and other eudences of Buddhistic migration to the South and Cevlon, and notices of South India and her trade in the 4rthaw\tra of Thus we may take it that what the Sangam Kautilya and the Indika of Megasthenes literature portravs is the culture which existed in the extreme South between the third century B C and the third century A D The Purananuru* an anthology of 400 verses by different poets composed in different periods of the early Sangam age, has many references to the burial-ground and to urnThe general term used for the grave is kadu or pwangadu burials and a few to cremation It is also called which means a waste-land set apart for burial in the wilds near the village mudukadu or mudiir which means the place for the ancients or old men after death The term mudukaa'u has persisted m later works such as the Tc\aram (7731) and Nalvah and a Pudukkottai inscription, dated 1237 A D \ refers to the ancestors of the signatories as mudukkal
1

/t s

2
*

K A N Sastn, The Cofa*. I, 68-70, The P&nfaan Kingdom, pp Tamil Lit and Histor\, pp 7^-74 Purum, verses 228, 256, Mammfthalai, VII, line 6^, Pufam, \crsc 156 Op cit No 317
See
in
,

16-24

and

V R R

Dikshitar,

11

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
the two

It is only later that one finds differentiating names itfukdfa 'burial-ground', In some places the term imam or lmakk&(]iu is also and tudukadu, 'cremation-ground' Later commentators on Tamil works invariably used* where Imam refers to funeral rituals They were influenced by contemporary explain all these terms as the 'burning-ground' The practices, whereas many of the contexts clearly show that /</wAJ</ alone is meant puram gives word-pictures of the grave-yard in many contexts, and all these verses may be summarized as follows The grave-yard (kadu\ the place of the ancients, on the outskirts of the town or on
1

the skirts of the hilly ground, an expanse of brackish or alkaline soil overgrown with the tree-spurge (Euphorbia antiquontm or kalh) and other xerophytes and many thorny shrubs, the old tree hoots, full of buried urns, where, even during da>time, the owl from its hole where the red-eared' cock and the paginal bird sit without fear on the conical heap (of stones) above the hds inverted over the burial-urns, where the vulture descends on its many foot-paths which cross each other and the strong-billed crow flies as it likes, v\here the carnon-eatmg jackals abound and the hordes of demons \\ith their teeth defiled by carrion, grasp the carcases of the dead and eat the white flesh till their mouths reek of the odour, and where he strewn fragments of white bones and numerous stones concealed by the over-

growth of jungle

'

regards the actual methods of the disposal of the dead there are many references to The epic Mammekhalai* which belongs to the last period burial and some to cremation of the Sangam epoch, summarizes the customs, contemporary and traditional, as follows
&uduvdr-idu\ or-todu kulippaduppdr (Ch 6,11,66-67) Talvayinadaippor-tahyirkavippor
these lines is the description of the great grave->ard of the famous It was a cosmopolitan city in the early Puhar or Kavinppumpattinam centuries of the Christian era, when in the Tamil country the Vedic, Jama, Buddhist and These two lines enumerate the different sets of other cults had more or less taken root people who came there for disposing of the dead, wz those who cremated (suduvor). those who cast away or exposed the dead to the elements or animals (iduvor), those \*ho laid the body in pits which they dug into the ground (todu-kuli-paduppor)* those who interred the dead body in subterranean cellars or vaults (tal~va\m-adaippor), and those who placed the The first two methods body inside a burial-urn and inverted a lid over it (tdjiyir-kavippdr) The third method refers to inhumation, the fourth refers hardly need any explanation to vaults or cellars (vaym) let into the ground (/J/), e stone cists and the like, in which the body or the remains of cremation are interred and the last method, which is brief and descriptive, refers to the placing of the body (or the remains of cremation) into burial This is actually what urns (tali), the mouth of which was covered by inverting a lid (kavi) one finds in the case of urn-burials, which represent by far the most dominant custom as described in the earlier Sangam works the Narnnai, Padirruppattu and Purananuru The poet Paranar describes the mental condition of a distracted mother whose daughter The mother prefers death to a life exposed to the scandal of has run away with her lover the neighbours and apostrophizes the God of Death as follows

As

The context of
capital,

Cola

Mayirum-tah-ka vippa-t
Tannru-ka]ika-\er-koM-k-kurre
(Narnnai, 271, lines 11-12)

1 Puram 225, lines 7-8, 218, lines -5, 240, lines 7-9, 244, line 1, 217, line 13, 356, lines 1-4, 359, lines 1-8, 360, lines 15-16, 162, lines 12-21 , 361, line 10, 364, lines 10-13
1

12

THE MEGALITHIC BURIALS AND URN-FIELDS Or SOUTH INDIA

'Oh powerless Lord of Death, that cannot take away my life so that my body may be entombed and covered m a big dark urn The Padirruppattu collection has a verse which describes in one context that the graveyard (kadu), where lay the burial- urn (tali) that entombed the king, was the vast expanse below the vanm (Prosopis spicigera) tree'
"

Mannar-mafaitta tali Vanm-manrattU'Vi(angiya-kddc

(Padir, 44, lines 22-23

This shows both the custom of urn-burial and the manner in which the royal funerals were performed in those times On the death of the Cola king Killi Valavan, who died in Kulamurram, the poet Aiyur Mudavanar addresses the potter who has to make the urn for his burul and pities his plight as follows
Kalanjey-kdve-kalanjey-kovc

*****

Kodi-nudangu- \ anai-nedu-ma-valavan

Devar-ulakam-evdman-adahn Awwr-kavikkum-kannakanra-talt
Vanaidal- \e\iana\yav\n-enai\ adu-um

Irumlani-tikinya-p-perumalai

Wannaka-vanaidal-ollumo-mnakke

(Puram, 228,

lines

1-15

'Oh potter who makest pots for the burial-ground, sending up such a volume of smoke from >our kiln that it rises up as a great cloud, gathering as if all the darkness of the world had concentrated in one spot Oh potter' I wonder what you will do now Your plight is pitiable The great scion of the line of the &embi>ar (Colas), whose armies are distributed over the wide expanse of the earth who is praised b\ the learned and is comparable to the Sun with his far-reaching rays, that great and powerful Valavan (Cola king) whose You elephants carry his unfurled banner waving in the air, has reached the vsorld of gods Could need make a large wide-mouthed urn for entombing such an exalted monarch you do less than use the great earth as your wheel and the great mountain as the clod of
'

clav

Peruncattanar, another poet, feels that he should not survive his patron Velunan,

and sings

Kavi-3en-tali-k-kuvi-purattirunda

*****
l

(Puram, 238, lines 1-5 ) 'He has reached the burial-ground where the 'red-eared' cock and the poquval sit on the heap (of stones) outside the lid that covered the red burial urn, the strong-billed crow in company with the owl revels with the female of the species of demons', etc Another anonymous verse is that of a bereaved wife appealing to the potter who makes the burial-urns and pottery *Oh potter that makest the pots, Oh potter that makest the pottery for the burial-ground' Pity my plight and sho\\ kindness to her who, like a little
white lizard clinging to the spokes of the wheel that turns beside the axle-pin of a chariot, his (the husband's) company traversed for long the narrow and difficult paths (of life), has and condescend to make the burial-urn large enough to include her too

Kadu-munmnane

'

Puram, 256,

lines 1-7

13

4NCIENT INDIA, NO

Again another poet, Kukaikkojiyar, sings of the 'great burial-ground (AJ(/w) that is of buried urns, where the owl and the wild-fowl hoot and the crow caws without pause from their holes in the old tree entwined by bmd-weeds, the numerous roots of which have begun to shake'
full

Nilambak a- vi/nda- valangar-pal- ver

Mudu-mara-p-pondir-kadumena- vi vamhum

Kuk ai-k -kali vand-t

(Puram, 364, lines 10-14) Tdliva-perungadu-e\diya-nanre There are references to cremation in the Purananuru and the following are examples Verse 231 (lines 1-4) by Auvaiyar on the death of the chief Nedumananji verse 240 (lines 7-10) by Kuttuvan Kiranar on the death of the Vel chief. Ay, verse 244 (lines 1-7) by the Cera king, Ceraman Makkodai, who later died in Kottambalam, on the death of his queen verse 246 by the queen of Bhuta Pandivan on the occasion of her sati on the death of her lord and verse 363 which says, 'more numerous than the sands on the sea-shore are the kings who ruled this \ast earth girt by the great sea, who went away as the lords of the burning-ground without possessing e\en as much as a udai leaf {example of littleness)', etc Pereyin Muruvalar in his \erse in praise of the Pandyan king Nambi Ncdunjeliyan,
,
,

refers also to the different kinds of funerals,

though not so clearly as

in ih^

Mammekhalai

quoted above
Iduka- venro- wdukavenro

Padu-kuh-p-paduka (Puram, 239, lines 20-21), where iduka refers to exposure and burial, \uduka to cremation and padukuh-p-paduka* to inhumation Chapter 6 of the Mammekhalai has a lengthy description of the cemeterv called Cakravalakkdnam in Puhar, where were many monumental shrines built of burnt bricks of various sizes, big and small, distributed in long lines over the burials of saints, kings or wives who committed sa//" along with their husbands, with indications of their four iaruas, dsramas and sex sacrificial pillars on which balls were made, and mounds of heaped stones, There is also reference to stones m the grave-yard, from probably cairns (mrai-kal-tern) which we have already given a quotation above (Puram< 363, line 19), where the relatives of The the deceased are said to be 'more numerous than the stones in the grave-yard Tolkappnam mentions the nadukal (Tol For. 60) which is explained as a tall stone planted over a grave or as a memorial in the grave-yard (parandalai) and was probably the precursor of many of the virakkal or hero-stones and ma-wt\-k-kal or the stones over the graves of sath or the memorials to the patta\ar The Purandnuru verses 221, 223, 232, 260-261, 263-65, 306, 314. 329 and 335, Ahandniiru, 131, and Malaipadukadam, 388-9, give more information about nadukal
'

Medieval

literature

That by the eleventh or twelfth century A D the ancient custom of urn-burial had become The Takkaydkapparam nothing but a memory is proved by notices in the later literature of the poet Ottakkuttar of the twelfth century A D a composition on Dakshas's sacrifice, associates the *dead bodies' inside burial-urns (taji) with the 'dead bodies' in the natural caverns (pd/t) where 'useless penance' was performed the latter probably meaning the Jamas
,
1

in

Yappurungalam

Putfukuh has an alternative reading patfuvaji which is preferred by Dr Swammatha Aiyar, as it When compared with what is said in Mummrkhalai, pa^ukuli is more suggestive
14

is

quoted

THE MEGALITHIC BURIALS AND URN-FILLDS OF SOUTH INDIA

or Ajlvakas whose system of penance was fruitless'

the eyes of the followers of the

Vedic religion
Tdliyir-pmangalum-talaippada-verum-tavap (Tak 376 Paliyir-pmangalum-tuhppelap'paduttiyc
In his
)

two other compositions, the Vikrama-Co}an- Via and Kulottunga-Colan-Ula* eulogistic poems on the two contemporary Cola monarchs, he mentions mudu-makkal-cadi, 'the In his Via on Vikrama one of the legendary progenitors of the Cola jar for the ancients' king was Tarapati, who designed the jar or urn for the ancients when the 'God of Death having become powerless to take any life (at his will) fled and hid himself from view' maralmduOdi-marah- \ olippa-mudumakkat
Cadi-vakutta-Tarapativum
(Vik

Via

lines

14-16

In the other Via on Kulottunga one of the progenitors, the twelfth in the line is said to be the first to devise the *mudumakkat-cddi' for the old and feeble
Kill i- talaip-pandu-k d-n-alwn

from the Sun,

Padnmakkada vul-padaip-padai ak -A alia

\

Mudunwkkatiadi-mudaldn

(Kid Via

lines

22-24

The Sankara-Colan-Ula, another composition of

class, gives a similar idea The Tiru\enkartupuranam too has a passage where an ancient king is described as one 'who designed sescral mitdu-nmkkai-(adt for the grand old men at a golden age, when the God of Death could not take away any life'

the

same

&itta~niakilndu-mbamw a- <engd-nadatta-naman Ultamanam-enrannal-uvir-k odu-pokamai yindl Movtta-mudi orkku-mudumakkatcadi-pala (Tinven Vaitta-kula-dipakane-nmnnako-mannako

\

San anal,

This accounts for the tradition in later times that very old people, who had lived their 'four-score and twentv' and were decrepit were placed inside large urns until their death, to avoid discomfort This accounts aKo for the quotation of a late commentator, Naccmarkmi>ar (c fourteenth century), in his commentary on the earliest extant Tamil

work Tolkappnam.
until death*

attributing to the Ajlvakas the practice of 'entering the tab for penance

Tah-kavippa-t-tavarn-ceyvar-mannaka Valiya-nonana-malvarai) e
Conclusions
If we accept the postulate that the literature of a people of a particular period not only portrays contemporary life and events but may also embody in it earlier traditions, and that the advanced state of civilization which we find in the Sangam period probably had its origin much earlier, we may place the earlier limits of the megahthic and urn-field culture, which seems to have been a dominant factor of early Tamil civilization, in the prethan the last three centuries B C and earlier, too, than Sangam epoch, i e earlier

effective

The gradual percolation of 'Aryan' ideas into the Tamil culture is noticeable m the different strata of the Sangam literature, and as we approach the close of the period the influence of these ideas gets more and more marked until the two cultures become
15

perhaps 'Aryan* contact with South India

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
,

thoroughly intermingled when we hear of the Tamil kings performing and protecting Vedic sacrifices, and find cremation according to Vedic rites taking precedence over the more ancient customs of burial By about the fifth century A.D comes a dark chapter in Tamil history, synchronizing with the Kalabhra interregnum, and when we see light again in the sixth to seventh centuries A we have a literature totally different from the Sangam works in vocabulary, diction and metre, and predominantly devotional in nature This, taken together with the misconceptions about the burial-urn enumerated above from the literature of the eleventh century and after, indicates the later limit of the megahthic and urn-field bunal customs in South India as the beginning of the fifth century A.D or

earlier.

16

To face page 17

ARIKAMEDU
NEAR PONDICHERRY SOUTH EAST INDIA

ALE OF

AS

ARIKAMEDU:

AN INDO-ROMAN TRADING-STATION ON THE EAST COAST OF INDIA By R E M WHEELER, with contributions by A GHOSH and KRISHNA DEVA
Ankamedu,
stressed on
the

Coromandel

the special importance of which in South Indian archaeology has been of this Number, represents the site of a considerable buried town on Two sectors (Northern and Southern} excavated in 1945 and coast
,

partially
first

uncovered by previous excavators were found to have been occupied in the and second centuries A D and to have been extensively despoiled for bricks in the middle ages and later The Northern Sector contained the remains of a substantial structure

50 on the former foreshore above vaguer vestiges upwards of 150 feet long, built about of earlier occupation extending perhaps over half a century The building, from its site and charac ter identified as a warehouse, must from the outset have been liable to flooding, and was abandoned at an early date The Southern Sector, on the other hand, comprised a site which stood some 10 feet above flood-level, and was occupied for a hundred years or more from the middle of the first century A D onwards Its principal structures consisted of two walled courtyards associated with carefully built tanks supplied and drained by a series of brick culverts It is conjectured that these tanks and courtyards were used in the preparation of the muslin cloth which has from ancient times been a notable product of this part of India and is recorded by classical writers as an Indian export Amongst the other industries of the town was that of bead-making Gold, semi-precious stones and glass were used for this purpose, and tno gems, carved with intaglio designs by Graeco-Roman gem-cutters and in one instance untrimmed, suggest the presence of Western craftsmen on the site Numerous sherds both of a red-glazed pottery known to have been made in Italy in the first centuries

AD

B C -A D

and of the two-handled jars or amphorae characteristic of the Mediterranean wine-trade of the period, together with Roman lamps and glassware, combine to indicate that Ankamedu was one of the regular Havana'' or Western trading-stations of which both GraecoRoman and ancient Tamil writers speak As the first of these stations actually identified by excavation in India, Ankamedu will hold henceforth a distinguished position in the history of the economic relations of India with the outside world And the discovery has other features A Roman market on the Coromandel coast implies a knowledge of the southof interest western monsoon, which the historian may now suppose to have been in regular use at an
earlier date than

was previously conjectured The epigraphist and the palaeographer will find some of the earliest dated fragments of the Tamil language To the geographer, the very considerable rise in water-level shown to have occurred hereabouts within the last two thousand years, though due at least in part to local causes, is perhaps of incidental But the most significant result of these excavations is that, by establishing at last the note precise chronological position of an extensive South Indian culture, the archaeologist has provided a new starting-point for the study of the pre-medieval civilizations of the Indian

amongst the

graffiti

peninsula
17

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

CONTENTS
Page
1

2
3

The site and its historical background The chronology of the site The structures
Notes

22 24
32 34

Dimensions of bricks

Use of tanks
4

m the textile

industry

The

pottery

(i)
(11)

Wares imported from the Mediterranean Arretme ware

34
41

Imported amphorae (m) Rouletted black ware B Local wares C Chinese celadon ware

45 49
91

D
(i)

Addenda

to the pottery

Comparison with North Indian wares

5.

(n) Chemist's notes Other small finds

93 93

Beads

95
101

G
I

H Roman
J

Gracco-Roman gem Roman lamp

glass bowls

101

102 102
103

Terracotta objects

K
L

Metal objects Stone objects

104

M
N
P

Wooden

objects

and ropes
'

Miscellanea Coins
Pictorial graffiti

104 108 108

1

on potsherds

08
14
16

Inscribed potsherds

109
1

Q
6
I

Bones

Appendices

Roman

coins found

in

H
III

India and Ceylon

Semi-precious stones The ancient name of

121

Ankamedu

124

THE

SITE

AND

ITS

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

geographers and the Tamil literature of the 'Sangam' age have familiarized with the outlines and some of the details of Indian trade with the West in and after the first century At its prime, the trade was extensive It included as Indian exports pepper, pearls, gem-stones, muslin, tortoise-shell, ivory and silk and as imports from the West coral, lead, copper, tin, glass, vases, lamps, wine and, l at first, coined money the literary evidence makes it clear that By the latter part of the first century * this trade was organized on lines not unlike those of the European factories established from the sixteenth century onwards The Penplus of the Erythraean Sea (c A India
historians THE
classical

AD

AD

The best reviews of Indian trade with the Roman Empire are by P Charlesworth, Trade-routes and Commerce of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, 1926), and E H Warmington, The Commerce between the Roman See also H G Rawlmson, Intercourse between India and the Western Empire and India (Cambridge, 1928) World (Cambridge, 1916), K A Nilakanta Sastn, The Cdfas, I (University of Madras, 1935), and P T Srmivas lyengar, History of the Tamils from the earliest times to 600 A D. (Madras, 1929).
1

18

To face page 18

PLATE IX

Arikatnedu

Northern Sector

in

middle distance, Southern Sector in background

PLATE X

To face plate XI

-\nkanieihi from the vu\/

Southern Sutor

in

n^ht

Ankumcdu

wall\ projecting

from rner hank

To face plate

PLATE XI

Poiii'i

ilepo \tfid /or e

\annna' ton in ^quart's numbered

oj \tmtti

\\itli

the honzontal

and Mttual

lotation\

PLATE

XII

To face page 19

AR1KAMLDU
60-100) speaks of IpndQUx. v6fit/i(x. the unqualified IpndQux. of Ptolemy (c A 150), 1 That is to say, permanent lodges of Western may fairly be described as treaty-ports * traders were settled in them under formal agreement with the appropriate Indian ruler, and were visited at the proper seasons by convoys of deep-sea merchantmen And just as the agents of the Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French or British establishments in the days of the Companies travelled widely in the interior to circumvent the middlemen, so we may with probability recognize in some of the Roman coin-hoards far from the sea (fig 48) the penetration of earlier Western traffickers with similar intent On the scale indicated, this organized interchange implies a knowledge of the periodiWithout that knowledge, which, according to Pliny, 3 could restrict city of the monsjoons the crossing of the Indian Ocean to forty days, the laborious coastal voyage to India or the still more precarious overland routes must have prevented the development of regular The establishment of permanent agencies and direct trade with southern or eastern India in those parts must therefore have post-dated the discovery of the so-called 'Hippalus' or south-western monsoon a discovery of unknown date but appreciably earlier than Pliny and the Penplus, and possibly, though not certainly, earlier also than r 21, when Strabo speaks of 120 ships sailing for India from Myos Hormos on the Red Sea 4 On the other hand, there is no hint that the monsoon was familiar to Mediterranean merchants The unification of the western world under before the time of the Roman pnncipate Augustus (23 B C -A D 14) and the recorded reception by him of at least tv\o Indian 6 delegations (c 25 B C and 21 BC) provide an obvious context, if not for the actual discovery, at least for its diffusion beyond the corporations of Arab sailors and other agents who had jealously monopolized the Indian traffic thitherto Further than this the literary evidence fails to carry us Warmmgton conjectures from it that the direct route from the Red Sea to the Malabar coast, i e the full use of the * monsoon, was introduced soon after 41 Archaeology now indicates a rather earlier date Some considerable time prior to the abandonment of the manufacture of Italian red-glazed pottery (Arretme and related fabrics} an event which is unlikely to have been a Roman emporium is now known to have been firmly established later than A D 50 far up the eastern coast of India, near Pondicherry. We may infer that at least as early as c 30, and possibly before the death of Augustus, regular monsoon-trade had been established between the Mediterranean and western India, with a coastwise or overland ext

which

AD

'

AD

Whether at this early date the route was carried to its tension to the Coromandel coast By the second century, at logical conclusion in Malaya and China is at present unknown any rate, Antonine coins would appear to have penetrated to Long Shuyen and the 7 peninsula of Cochin China, where they were dug up by Mr L Mallaret in 1945 Before we turn to the Pondicherry site, the literary picture of these trading-cities may be completed in outline by reference to one or two familiar passages in the Tamil literature This literature is very insecurely dated, but the relevant passages, which are numerous, It was probably in the may be ascribed on general grounds to the early centuries second century, for example, that the city of Puhar or Kaverippattmam, at the mouth of the Kaverl river 60 miles south of Pondicherry, was thus described in the epic

AD

Silappadikaram ('The Lay of the Anklet') 'The sun shone over the open terraces, over the warehouses near the harbour and over the turrets with windows like the eyes of deer
1

At Muzirii (Cranganore, Cochin State) the Peutmger Table, second to third century A D marks a 'temple of Augustus' 8 6 The Monumentura Ancyranum states that such embassies came 'frequently' VI, 104 II, V, 12
2
,

Warmmgton, p

107

Op

cit.p 45

Information from

Mr H
19

Gcnais, of the 6cole Francaise d'Extrfime-Onent

3SLJ- N

PRINCIPAL PLACES
MENTIONED
too so

IN

THE
300

ARIKAMEDU REPORT
o JCALf Of MILKS IPO aoo
/5OO

+00

^,J

HEtOHTS ABOVK

fMKT

'

V-^

HDNDAPUR j&

"V

^
*"

?V^At^vU AMAR^VAT? r /
MASw
5

^* /

*** X*" MAHAAAGIRJ^'

^S

jr

'
i

"Sf
irf"

/
(

v'

>\^O
<#

l^f^ir^ &^
*

>\,tt

/^ _ /^'S < VMARIVANAM i>7 *^MA *_,%%<) T V-T, ^-A? ^w "^ V ^ -'^ONDlCHeiRy & 'AAIKAMDU' T ^ ^ ^' 'O (of">**s'fa *"< T\
3
t

/*
"

(/'JUH. "AA

CHANGANOWI^^^"*
(

Jo ^*}\'T&r, * OU,AK^->J auitjON^^^V 7 \^ JfmLmtMi \J

J"
%jk

ycsX

Cr.rcOIAATOM

KA

JTRANQUEBAJl

TKORIOJJ

FJG.

20

A RIKA MED U
In different places of Puhar the onlooker's attention was arrested by the sight of the abodes of Yavanas [men from the Graeco-Roman world] whose prosperity never waned At the harbour were to be seen sailors from distant lands, but to ail appearance they lived l as one community ... .' In another poem, a Pandya prince is exhorted to drink the 2 cool and fragrant wines brought by the Yavanas their vessels Again, 'agitating the white foam of the PSnyaru, the beautifully built ships of the Yavanas came with gold and returned with pepper, and Muzins resounded with the noise' 3 And Tamil rajas employed bodyguards of western mercenaries, 'the valiant-eyed Yavanas whose bodies were strong and of terrible aspect' and who, equipped with 'murderous swords', were 4 In this capacity they are said to have 'excellent guardians of the gates of the fort-walls' been employed at Madura Yavana craftsmen were also sought after in southern India, 6 In one way and another, the Yavana especially for the manufacture of siege-engines in partibus enjoyed a considerable prestige whether as trader or as settler

miles south of the centre of Pondicherry, the capital of French India, a former full flood, outlet of the Gmgee or VarShanadi river forms a lagoon locked to day, save The lagoon, known as the 'Anyankuppam river' by a sand-bar from the Bay of Bengal from the name of the largest adjacent village, is fringed by cocoanut-palms which, with a belt of sand-dunes, shelter it mostly from the sea In the vicinity of the little village of Kakkayantoppu, the eastern bank of the lagoon stands some 20 feet above the water and from the scarp project the jagged ends of successive brick buildings to which the mound To the villagers the site is known as Ankamedu, and, or mcdu owes its being (pi XB) though no more formal origin for the name has been discovered, it will serve as well as 8 any other Destruction of the buried buildings by the river in flood has been accompanied by extensive destruction from other causes Tree-planting and, above all, brick-robbing the work As far back as 1734 there is record of the latter process, 7 have combined 'robberand fragments of Chinese celadon ware of the ninth to twelfth centuries found trenches' throughout the excavated site indicate a similar process as early as the Middle To-day, the nucleus of the site is protected by the French Government Ages 8 In the eighteenth century the visible remains were described by Le Gentil, who remarks upon their destruction by the river But archaeological attention incidentally was first directed to the site by Mr Jouveau-Dubreuil who, in and after 1937, made One of a collection of beads and gems found on the surface by the local children the gems is reported to bear a head of Augustus in intaglio, and this induced Mr JouveauDubreuil to exclaim 'Nous avons la une veritable ville romaine' 9 In the sequel, excavations and after 1941 by Brother L Faucheux of Pondicherry in collaboration were carried out The excavators ignored stratification with Mr Surleau, then Chef des Travaux Publics

Two

*******
m

The &ilappadik&ram> trans V R Ramachandra Dikshitar (Oxford, 1939), p 110 K Pillai The Tamils eighteen hundred years ago, pp 12 and 37 lyenger, op at p 312 5 * Ib I>cnger, pp 313ff* lyenger, p 312 p 313, and Warmmgton, p 80 Mr K R Snnivasan has suggested that the name may be Arukkume'a'u, meaning 'mound of ruins' (arukku=to destroy or rum), or it may be Arukume'a'u, meaning 'mound on a river bank' (aruku, according to old usage still surviving in Pondicherry see Tamil Lexicon under Aruku-Kollai and Arukadigam signifies the neighbourhood or bank of a river) 7 L Faucheux, Une vieille citt indienne (Pondicherry, 1945), p 2. Voyage dans les mers de VInde (Paris, 1779-81), I, 542-5 9 Bulletin de rfccole Mr Jouveau-Dubreuil's collection was Franfaise d'Extrtme-Orient, XL (1941), 450 sent to the French School museum at Hanoi, Indo-Chma, and I have not seen the Augustus gem
1

fl

21

ANCIEN1 INDIA, NO 2
and no accurate plan was prepared, but the work had the primary merit of proving m bulk the real importance of the site and of revealing the presence of pottery from An untnmmed intaglio representing Cupid and an eagle, of classical the Mediterranean workmanship, was also found (pi XXXIIIB, 11) On a visit to Pondicherry in 1944 I observed several sherds of Italian red-glazed ware (the so-called Arretine) amongst the proceeds of the excavations exhibited in the town * Since this ware can be dated with some precision, it was evident to me that library here we had for the first time what had long been sought in vain, namely, a firm datumFor with the imported material was an line in pre-medieval South Indian archaeology
It remained to define that association by Indian culture which necessanly shared its date careful digging Accordingly, through the British Consulate at Pondicherry I approached the French authorities for permission for the Archaeological Survey of India to carry out a restricted H E the Governor (Mr L Bonvm) readily granted the request, and the excavation work was earned out in Apnl, May and June, 1945 From Brother Faucheux and from Mr Julia, now Chef des Travaux Publics, and his staff the most generous help was received The work was directed by myself as Director General of throughout the proceedings Archaeology in India, with the assistance of Mr A Ghosh, Superintendent of the Excavations Branch of the Archaeological Survey, Mr Krishna Deva, Pottery Assistant to the Survey, and the following senior students of the Survey S C Chandra, S R Das, About twenty-five students and attaches from P Guha, B B Lai and B Thapar the Indian universities and States also took part in the work

THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE

SITE

The imported pottery which dates the site consists of (a) Arretine ware from Italy, and Since the occupation was (b) amphorae from Italy or elsewhere in the Mediterranean manifestly continuous through the period when Arretine ware was reaching the site into the period when the importation ceased, it is reasonable to regard the disappearance
of the ware as due to stoppage at source rather than to any local condition at Ankamedu It is inferred therefore that the Arretine imports belong to the last phase of the industry, and the three decades A D 20-50 are here suggested as a liberal estimate of the period covered by them Below the lowest Arretme-producmg stratum on II, however, were 8 feet of sandy deposits representing mainly the accumulation of estuanne silt but nevertheless containing relics (fig 2) All save the lowest of these deposits (which contained very little) yielded It may be affirmed therefore that a reasonably regular sherds of Mediterranean amphora trade with the West was maintained substantially from the beginning of the occupation, but that, on present showing, the finest foreign ware (Arretine) did not appear at once upon

AK

the scene

At

this point

we

fall

back upon the

less certain

historical indications are that the consolidation

was a product of the unification and it is reasonable to suppose that previous trade with eastern India, if it existed at all, was of a spasmodic and indirect kind unlikely, for example, to have produced a continuous supply of amphorae at Ankamedu On historical grounds, therefore, the Roman occupation of this site is unlikely to have antedated the pnncipate of Augustus
the East

AD

The support of historical probability and development of Roman trade with of the western world under Augustus (23 B C -

14),

e unlikely to be earlier than 23

BC

R E

Wheeler, 'Virampatnam', /OM/TI of the Greater India Society,

XI

(1945), 91ff

22

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

Thus from a convergence of evidence it is here inferred that the riparian sites excavated in 1945 were first occupied at the end of the first century B C or beginning of the first century A D with an inclination towards the later date The duration of the occupation is more in doubt. Almost all the buildings excavated were constructed after the cessation of the importation of Arretme ware The large building, here called a warehouse, m the Northern Sector was built on and into the main Arretine-producmg layers, and only a few stray sherds occurred in the contemporary In the Southern Sector all structures, save two 'make-up' or subsequent spoliation In other words, the intensive fragmentary walls, also post-date the cessation of Arretme structural development of these two areas belongs to the end of the 'Arretme period \ here
,

This ascribed to c 50 (before rather than after that date) to drag helps, incidentally, the initial phase into the first century , preference to the preceding century 50 there were, in the Southern Sector, several successive Subsequently to our date stages of construction and reconstruction, accompanied by some modification of the associated Indian pottery These developments were controlled by two unifying factors, all strata of sherds a general continuity the main units of the plan, and the occurrence of Mediterranean amphora It is evident that the function and contacts of the site remained

AD

down

AD

AD m

limits, the duration of the occupation of the site years is minimum of a century would appear to be required by the changes anyone's guess indicated, but there seems to be no good reason for allowing more than two centuries terminal date the neighbourhood of 200 would be a reasonable supposition The great 'warehouse' the Northern Sector had vanished long before this date, and a had been cut into the remains pit, full of potsherds of the first to second centuries A of one of its walls The reason for the doom of this building is not far to seek it lies at the lower end of the site, its foundations are at the present mean sea-level, and, although its floor was, from the outset, raised to a height of 4J feet above them, it must have been liable to flooding even on the necessary assumption that in the first century A the relative level of land and sea here differed considerably from that of the present time It is noteworthy that no coins have been found in the ancient levels of the site Only the extensive areas of late disturbance, due to systematic brick-robbing medieval and modern times, do Cola coins occur with fragments of the Chinese celadon ware which is almost universal Asia in and after the ninth century A In summary, the site generally is assumed to have been occupied during the first two centuries A D and to have been despoiled for its bricks in the Middle Ages and later

unchanged Within these general

AD

3.

THE STRUCTURES
NORTHERN SECTOR
III,

AK II,
mam

V, VI, VII, VIII

AND

The 'warehouse*
Sectors excavated, the Northern was an amplification of an area Of the two These earlier excavations had cleared by the French excavators in and after 1941 disclosed the south-eastern angle of a large brick building and the remains of a ring-well or soak-pit (R W. 1) built of potter v rings apparently at a somewhat earlier period. second ring-well is said to have been found but has not been seen by the present excavators Two more (R.W. 2 and 3) were found to the north and west respectively of the building 1945, and a few feet to the south or south-west of the former the French claim to have discovered a brick-lined well in 1944

24

ARIKAMEDU

25

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

As now
river,

was a

revealed the building, largely destroyed by brick-robbers featureless structure upwards of 150 feet long (pi XIII)

and

curtailed

by the

Traces of a single

partition-wall were found, but, apart from a side-chamber towards the east, the building was substantially an oblong shell, massively built and with all the appearance of a warehouse, which it is presumed to have been Its brickwork had been rendered externally by its builders with a tough plaster, apparently intended to keep out water on this low-lying site, at least, elsewhere at Ankamedu lime-mortar or plaster was only used when it was desired to waterproof walls or floor, as on Site IV The bricks themselves Tank

AK

were mostly held together with a mud-mortar devoid of lime The date of the building was reasonably clear and has been discussed above, p 24 It was approximately the middle and second half of the first century A D No later structure was found here or hereabouts It is evident that the 'warehouse' was built on a site which was as near to water-level as was feasible, and that the latter was already rising The main walls were built on rough foundations of bricks which had been sunk on a rubble bottoming into the soft sand, and the floor-level was 4 feet 6 inches above the lowest course of built brickwork For the most part the walls did not remain to a sufficient height to indicate doorways, but a former entrance was identified in the eastern wall of the side-chamber by a gap, at which a thick layer of concreted sand and broken bricks probably represented a street To the north of this gap, a rectangular mass of brickwork approaching from the east partly covered with concrete suggested the former existence of a ramp or staircase here Below sea-level, abundant pottery and fragments of cut timber were found to a depth of no less than 10 feet, but these lower deposits, with two possible exceptions at the top, gave the impression of being estuarme slime into which the objects had sunk, rather than In other words, the building was erected actually on the submerged occupation-layers foreshore of the estuary, on which apparently timber buildings had already stood and into which the debris of the port had penetrated it was floored at a level high enough to escape normal flooding, and its external walls were specifically reinforced to keep out water but, after an occupation which does not appear to have been extensive, it \vas disused, its bricks were largely removed, and the water-logged site was abandoned, whilst the higher At a reasonable guess, ground to the south (at and around AK IV) remained in use the abandonment of the Northern Sector may be supposed to have occurred before the e within little more than a generation of the date of end of the first century A D construction Evidence of occupation in the 'warehouse' is slight, and, although superficial
1

disturbance of the area robs this negative evidence of certainty, it is significant that Pit 1 of VIII, containing a great quantity of potsherds of first to second century types, was cut into the southern wall of the eastern side-chamber of the building after its demolition

AK

SOUTHERN SECTOR*

AK
The
site

IV

known

of the two
1

mam

as IV lay along the edge of the river to the south of the second areas already explored by the French Whereas in the Northern Sector

AK

in loose sand and clay down to a depth of 1 3 feet below sea-level was fraught with which were overcome by fencing the area with planks, driven lower and lower as the excavation proceeded, and by pumping out water constantly with an excellent pump lent by the Travaux Publics of Pondicherry * This section of the report is contributed by Mr A Ghosh

Our excavation

difficulties,

26

To face page 26

PLATE

XIII

K
SCALE OF

SCALE of

M
-

> LIMIT C /' X X / EXCAVATN/ AREA C x

DEEP

DIG<

ARlltAMEDU
evidence of occupation penetrated to a depth of 9 feet to 10 feet 6 inches below sea-level, here the natural soil was found at an average height of 10 feet above sea-level On this higher site, less accessible for the work of the port but out of reach of flood, the evidence of pottery indicates that occupation began a little later than on the foreshore but continued after the foreshore was abandoned It falls into three mam Phases, Early, Middle and Late, with sub-periods, but it should be emphasized at once that there was no break in its unless between the Middle Phase and the very slight remains constituting the continuity, Late Phase

Early Phase

the natural sand by a deposit of greenish sand 3 feet thick, rather poor in pottery and other small finds The remnants of this sub-period were very few and did not yield any structural plan They consisted of (1) a fragmentary wall carrying three square blocks of brickwork which doubtless supported wooden posts (2) a ring-well (R 1) near the southern end of the wall, and (3) a patch of brick floor (Floor A) near by, all the three were to the south of Tank A of the next subperiod and (4) a wall in the open space between Tanks A and B, entirely over-built by a wall of the next sub-period An important feature of this wall was that it contained five irregular vertical chases in its eastern face, showing that it was built against wooden posts This method of reinforcing an essentially timber structure and roughly cut to fit them later buildings in the Sector by a brick 'skin' was repeated At the end of this sub-period a shallow but wide pit was cut into the ground immeThis pit yielded a very large quantity diatelv to the west of the wall first mentioned above of pottery (Group A), which included several interesting sherds, notably a fragment of stamped Arretme several pieces of amphora, and a sherd with a Prakrit inscription (see below, pp 36, 43 and 111)
,

The Early Phase may be divided into three sub-periods The earliest structures were separated from Sub-period 1

The mam feature This sub-period witnessed brisk building activity Suh-penod 2 was the construction of two complexes of pavements called Tanks A and B each with an Both continued to be repaired and restored till the adjacent room of uncertain purpose last sub-period of the Middle Phase Throughout their existence they seem to have lain at the edge of two large and apparently unroofed quadrangles They had a close familyThe extensive use of likeness to each other and must have been used for similar purposes drams or conduits and substantial pavements of large bricks apparently made for the purpose, and the absence of domestic features, indicate the probability that the site was used for It is likely enough, industrial purposes involving a constant inflow and outflow of water though not proved, that the tanks were used as cisterns or vats for dyeing the muslin 1 which formed one of the most important exports of this part of India m ancient times The yards may have been used for drying the cloth Tank A (fig 4 and pis XXA, XXIA) was originally paved with bricks four courses deep and plugged with clay and had a doorway in its eastern wall The portion of the wall to the north of this doorway had an irregular outer face, having been built against wooden posts The western and part of the southern walls had an resting on a single course of bricks irregular footing, indicating that a part of the tank had been built against the sides of an There is no evidence as to how water was drained out excavation below ground-level
of the tank in this period
i For the use of brick tanks the Madras Presidency, see p 34 the present muslin industry muslin exports in classical times, see Warmington, op cit , pp 210-12

For Indian

27

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

AR.IKAMEDU
SOUTHERN
SITE
SCALE OF

SECTOR.

AK IV TANK A

METRES

BRANCH CULVERT

r~~l

EARLY PHASE SUB PERIOD MIDDLE PHASE SUB PERIOD MIDDLE PHASE SUB PERIOD

II

H
SECTION
FIG. 4

ON

OH
5
I

194-5

28

To face page

PLATE XVI
>f
ts

e
s
te

it

i-

is

1,

g
>f
IS

SUB-PERIOD

k h

ie

n
iie

K
\-

d
Is

SUB PERIOD U
A
S
I

d-

>f

A RIKA ME DU
the southern half of the quadrangle of which the tank formed Only part was traceable, the northern half having been entirely eroded The southern wall of this enclosure, which I), had the same feature as the discarded wall of partly overlay the earlier ring-well (R the earlier penod (No 1 above), in that it supported two square brickwork bases for posts Tank B (pis XVI, XXB), in addition to an unpaved square or oblong chamber to its The western and northern enclosing walls were south, had a paved verandah to its east. built against wooden posts indicated by the semicircular chases cut in their outer faces Near the junction of the northern and eastern walls there was a doorway opening into the The partition-wall between the verandah and the tank also had a doorway, verandah flanking either *side of which were two holes cut into the floor which were no doubt meant

to receive

wooden

A rectangular portion of the north-eastern corner of the tank was left unpaved and contained a platform edged with fragmentary bncks and 9 inches higher than the floor of the If the conjecture that the two tanks were used for dyeing muslin is tank (pi XVI) correct, this platform may have been used to support a vat its western wall The tank was drained by two channels and B there was a long but fragmentary and unconnected wall, Between Tanks built upon an earlier wall (No 4, above) and sharing with it the characteristic of having irregular chases in its eastern face and having therefore been originally built against rough detail with those of wooden uprights The chases in this wall, however, did not tally It is the earlier wall, and it is thus evident that a complete reconstruction was involved likely that this new wall served as the western compound-wall of the quadrangle of which

posts forming door-jambs

Tank B formed

part

built of two rows of bricks on edge, Against the outer face of the wall was Conduit This is the earliest remnant of the placed 10 inches apart and capped by horizontal bncks system of drainage which was to become a distinctive feature of the site In the French excavation at the northern end of the site, a fragmentary square or 2 to 8), and a patch of brick oblong structure of uncertain purpose, seven ring-wells (R floor (Floor C on plan) may be ascribed to this penod on general considerations, although no stratigraphic evidence is preserved Of the other extremely fragmentary structures of this period, viz a brick floor (Floor B) and an isolated wall in the southern extremity of the explored area and two walls in the eastern portion, no coherent plan could be traced, owing to extensive brick-robbing The only structure of this sub-penod was a wall immediately to the Sub-period 3 The southern end of this wall overlay the southern west of the earliest ring-well (R.W 1) As it was thus later than sub-period 2 and was stratigraphiwall of the earlier quadrangle cally earlier than the Middle Phase, it has to be regarded as an unconnected structure of the last days of the Early Phase.

Middle Phase
Subsequently to the last penod of the Early Phase the site underwent considerable devastation at the hands of brick-robbers, as underlying the structures of the Middle Phase were found four large pits full of bnck-fragments (indicated on the plan as Quarry Pits A, B, C and D, cf. pis. XVII1B, XIXA). This, however, does not imply a general abandonment of the site and its occupation by new settlers. On the contrary, as has been said above, the continued use and elaboration of the two tanks and the renewal of old walls built against wooden posts by similar walls in the Middle Phase indicate a persistence of the essential structural features through the subsequent periods.

The Middle Phase

consists also of three sub-periods

29

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

This sub-period became known to the excavators as the 'Drain Period', Sub-period 1 it was characterized by the construction of an elaborate system of drainage, sloping In construction all the new drains or conduits, unlike Conduit north towards the river of the Early Phase, were constructed by means of corbelled walls (not single bricks on edge), floored and roofed with horizontal bricks Conduit B, built upon the ruined top of the eastern wall of the quadrangle of Tank A, first discharged itself into Tank A, whence the water was emptied by another conduit built in line with it through the opposite wall. The end of the inlet was rebated and its sidewalls were provided with slits for a wooden sluice-gate (pi XXIA) From the extant fragments of the southern end of Conduit C it seems that it had first a northern course then, after a short turn to the east, it turned again to the north and ran approximately along the median wall between Tanks A overlying the earlier Conduit and B, which was built upon the earlier wall with chases for timbering and itself had the same characteristic (pi XXIIA) In fact, this wall and Conduit C were essentially restorations of the corresponding earlier structures Conduit D, originating like the others somewhere outside the excavated area, ran through the eastern portion of Tank B, utilizing the earlier floor of the tank as its floor and proceeded northwards till it reached the northern terminal wall of the quadrangle within which Tank B was situated Beyond this point it continued with a slightly different orientation (as Conduit E), till, crossing a probable street, it discharged itself into a wider of the mam cross-drain (Conduit F) which came from the east and probably formed part The point of junction with the mam dram was indicated drainage-system of the town It is likely that further west Conduits B and C by a gap in the latter (pi XIXB)
since

similarly joined Conduit F has been described above The floor of the The relation of Conduit B with Tank tank was now raised by 1 foot 4 inches over the earlier floor, the intervening space being The new floor was drained by a branch-culvert, the entrance to which filled up by debris was stopped by a small square brick plug The southern, western and northern walls of the tank were now rebuilt upon the The outer face of the last wall contained two chases, corresponding earlier walls The eastern wall was indicating the position of posts against which it had been built missing it is likely, however, that it too followed the alignment of the earlier wall In Tank B, the eastern wall was replaced by a new wall with practically the same The partition-wall between the tank and alignment and the northern wall was thickened

room continued without alteration Within the walls of the tank important changes were effected The partition-wall between the tank and the verandah was discarded, and a new east-to-west wall was erected, Both strips were floored with bricks, partitioning the room into two long strips the new floors being separated from their predecessors by a deposit of brick-bats and earth The floor of the northern strip was 8 inches higher, indicating that it now took the place of the earlier platform The northern strip itself was divided into two halves by a cross-wall, through which ran a subsidiary dram or conduit taking off from the western half and joining Conduit D It holds the same position as the branchthrough a hole made into one of its cap-bricks culvert in Tank A The history of the two tanks is thus mutatis mutandis identical A paved floor outside the eastern wall of the tank, made of fragmentary bricks and edged with bricks on edge, also belongs to this sub-period Though the fragmentary remnants render the reconstruction of a complete plan of the sub-period impossible, the general lay-out is fairly clear Tank B seems to have formed part of a large quadrangle, the wall against which Conduit C was built forming its western
the southern
30

To face page SO

PLATE XIV

ARIKA^
SIT

uill

llMldJlil
SUB-P SUB-F SUB-F JO
/o

METRES

ARIKAMLDV
wall

was doubtless built against timbering The eastern wall had regular outer and inner faces, was built The entire length of the southern compound against the latter of which Conduit wall was missing, but its position could be guessed from a corner projecting from the western wall Flanking the northern wall of the quadrangle was probably a street, with Conduit F

This wall had two corner projections against its eastern face, indicating the existence of a few small rooms within the quadrangle The inner (southern) face of the northern wall of the quadrangle was very rough and

B, no quadrangle could be ascribed to Tank A in this period, though be assumed from the fact that there was one both in the preceding and the Three rectangular blocks of brickwork near the eastern face of succeeding periods Conduit B may represent the remnants of a series of piers or posts holding a roof or pent The open space between Tank A and the western wall of the quadrangle of Tank B might naturally have been regarded as a street meeting the mam east-to-west street mentioned its middle above but for the fragmentary corner of a structure standing In the French excavations immediately to the north of the site, the only buildings of this period were a square structure (Lined Pit A), 9 feet 5 inches deep, gradually narrowing The pit is similar in towards the bottom, and a dram (Conduit G) taking off from its lip construction to another one (Lined Pit B) found by us and belonging to the next subperiod
Urtlike

running through
it

it

Tank

may

finally sealed the

In this sub-period, Tank A was provided with a still higher floor, which There is no opening of the outlet-drain of the previous sub-period evidence as to how water was drained off the floor The tank had now a quadrangle round it, as may be surmised from the existence of two walls to its south and west, at a distance of 19 feet respectively from the corresponding The former had a door near Us western end, and the latter was again walls of the tank

Sub-period 2

wooden posts driven into holes cut into the ruined top of the wall of the Early Phase (pi XV11IA) To the south of this quadrangle was a square structure, called Lined Pit B, 5 feet 9 inches the smooth Its outer face was roughly built against the earthen sides of the pit deep inner face had an inward batter, so that at the top the structure was 5 feet square and at It seems likely that this pit as well as the bottom only 1 foot 6 inches square (pi XXIB) the somewhat earlier one in the French excavation (Lined Pit A) were used in connexion and B (see above, p 27) with the same industry as Tanks The northern and western walls of Tank B, to judge from the fragmentary remains, were made thicker, a thick wall was also raised upon the ruined top of the earlier wall The space between this and the northern wall was paved dividing the tank into two strips with brick-bats and provided with a dram, the outlet of which, however, was not clear The other unconnected and fragmentary structures of this period were a thick wall with semicircular recesses in its western face and a part of a small rectangular room of the French excavations unknown purpose, both
built against
,

The main building-activity of this sub-period was confined to the area Sub-period 3 Along the outer face of this wall beyond the southern wall of the quadrangle of Tank A a west-to-east dram (Conduit H) was added. The source of the dram was uncertain but after a breach of 15 feet it reappeared, utilizing one of the earlier walls and a floor (Floor E) built against it as one of its side-walls and floor, a new wall forming its other It sloped to join Conduit C of the 'Dram Period' at a point where the latter turned side
,

east.

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

Some brick floors of this period deserve mention Floor F lav immediately to the It was built of complete bricks, its sides consisting near its lower end north of Conduit of bncks on edge On the other side of the drain was Floor built of brick-bats. Further west it seems to have been continuous with Floor H, which was similarly built against the same drain, and which, along with two walls of the same period meeting each other at an acute angle, overlay the top of the Lined Pit B of sub-period 2 There is no evidence that the two tanks remained in use in this sub-period, on the other hand, there is no evidence to the contrary.

Late Phase

from sub-period 1 of the Early Phase to sub-period 3 of the Middle Phase were connected with one another by structural links, such as similarity of alignment, the continued utilization of older drains, etc But the last phase of occupation on the site revealed no such connexion with the earlier episodes It was essentially a period of decay, when a few stray structures, lightly and clumsily built of brick-bats, took the place of the earlier tanks and drains At the same time, there was very little accumulation of material between the Middle and Late Phases, and there is no good reason for assuming a wide divergence of date between them Besides stray walls, three ring-wells (R 9, 10 and 11), all m the southern portion of
All the periods

It is likely that all the ring-wells were originally belonged to this Late Phase 9 by Floor I, superimposed upon Floor H of the earlier surrounded by brick-floors, R 10 and 11 by Floor J, only a small patch of which was found near by period, and R

the

site,

AKI
Unlike the other excavated areas, AFC I was situated inland, being at a distance of about 60 yards from the river-bank (pi VIII) Here an area of 40 feet by 40 feet was partially excavated to the natural soil, which was reached at an average depth of 9 feet from the surface Slight traces of structural remains belonging to three phases were found The area had, however, been so thoroughly disturbed by brick-robbers at various periods that the trial was not extended An interesting feature of this otherwise unpromising site was the discovery at a low level of a cluster of eight pointed-bottom jars (type 75 below, p 77, and pi XXXIIIA), Some of them were fitted into irregularly distributed within an area of 4 square feet the broken remains of others
DIMENSIONS OF BRICKS

number of bncks was measured, and the appended chart gives the dimensions in inches of Besides the maxima and minima of the three those used in walls, drams and pavements of different periods A mathematical average is liable to produce dimensions, the chart gives the normal size of bricks in each case an entirely artificial figure and has been avoided
numbers of
Hasty conclusions as to chronology have often been based upon brick-measurements, but, until large bricks have been carefully measured on a large number of dated sites and the results critically

A very large

The tables here printed may perhaps serve as a fresh starting-point considered, these conclusions are invalid It will be seen that in the middle of the first century at Ankamedu (Northern Sector), the normal

AD

The earliest bricks 5* to 2 9' thick, 14 0* to 15 0' long and either 8 0' to 8 5' or 10 5* to 1 1 0* broad x 13 0* to 13 5* x 9 0' the Southern Sector, which probably originated a little later in the first century, arc 2 and are evidently a different batch Thereafter there is no appreciable change until sub-period 2 of the Middle
size

was 2

Phase (probably second century AD), when there is a tendency for the bricks (perhaps re-used) to grow rather larger again, with superficial dimensions 14-0* to 15 5* x 9 0* to 9 5* or 10 5* to 11 -0*. Pavement bricks had already sub-period 2 of the Early Phase been 2-7' to 3 0' x 15-0' to 16 0' x 10 5" to 1 1 0*

32

To face page

PLATE XV

ARIKAMEDV

00

j i

fM

'

O C

JHSir_

:'

33

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

In all these measurements every possible care has been taken to exclude obviously re-used bricks, but the The only bricks which were certainly the later periods is always present risk of 'dilution' from this cause and uniformly new at the time of construction are those of the Northern Sector of the Southern Sector,

Early Phase, sub-period

and of the pavements of Southern Sector, Early Phase, sub-period

USE OF TANKS IN THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN THE

2.

NOTE ON THE
With reference

MADRAS PRESIDENCY

and B (above, p 27) for the preparation of muslin cloth, to the suggested use of Tanks the following answers to inquiries are worthy ot record 1 Extract from letter dated the 22nd September, 1945, from the Business Manager, Handloom
Weavers' Provincial Co-operative Society Ltd 21 Sunkurama Chetty Street, G-T Madras 4 Masonry tanks were considered to have no reaction to acids and salts in those days for indigenous dyeing, and they are in existence even now in some parts in South Arcot and Chmgleput Districts The tanks may be square or rectangular m shape and in cases where much boiling is not required the size will generally not exceed either 3x3x3 feet or 3 x3 feet so as to bt easy for the workmen
, ,

to

2
*

do the work Extract from

letter

dated the 24th September, 1945, from the Principal, Government Textile

Institute,

Washermanpet, Madras

Masonry tanks or

cisterns are used for storing water or for dyemg by cold process when there is no ' need to heat the dye-bath by means of firewood 3 Extract from letter dated 22nd September, 1945, from the Secretary, All-India Spinners*

Association,
4

Andhra Branch, Masulipatam For printing and dyeing blue colour, masonry tanks are used The size ot these would be generally 4 to 6 feet in length, 1\ feet in width and about 3 tcct in depth They will be rectangular in shape 4 Extract from letter dated 13th September, 1945, from the Curator, State Museum, Pudukkottai
'

(S India)

'Water and large vats or tanks were necessary (1) m the bleaching process for the production of bleach liquor for soaking the fabric and washing, (2) m sizing and starching, for the boiling of the starch gruel from millets or rice and soaking the fabric (3) m dyemg or printing, for the boiling of the dye and mordants, steeping the material and for washing it
, '

THE POTTERY

WARES IMPORTED FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN

Upon the imported Mediterranean wares the whole chronology of the site, and its Although the apparatus for special importance therefore to Indian archaeology, depend an analytical and comparative study of these wares does not exist at present India, their general significance is sufficiently familiar to enable them to be used immediately fall into three categories 'Arretine' ware, with imported with adequate precision (i) They copies, (11) amphorae, and (m) rouletted black ware, which, whether actually imported or not, shows foreign influence

(i)

Arretine ware

This is a red-glazed ware, the glaze varying from a sealing-wax colour through 'Indian red' to something approaching a deep orange-red; occasionally, in the first half of the first century A.D , the glaze is yellow with red veins, the so-called 'marbled ware Arretme ware belongs to a class of ware known as terra sigillata ('stamped pottery') from the fact that some of it is decorated by being pressed into a stamped mould Terra sigillata belongs in origin to the eastern Mediterranean area, especially to the environs of the Aegean Sea, and assumes a number of forms and varieties of fabric and glaze which have not yet been It seems to emerge in the second century B C and its derivatives adequately systematized survived the Near East widely into the Byzantine period as late as the seventh century
'

34

PLATE XVII
al

y
in
il
st

le

k
re al

ic

e
il

ie

a
ie

y, it

NO&TH
>r

d
CONTINUED

TOP

K./CH\

it

n
2,
Hf-CUT)

SMBOLS
COMMCT SAHO
l'i

LOOS! CLAY

ARIKAMEDV

A.D
wares

according to J
1

Iliffe,

who

has

made a

useful preliminary study of these provincial

are concerned primarily with the highest category of namely, that which was produced in Italy, at Arezzo, Puteoli and 2 elsewhere, and has been named 'Arretine' from the Latin name of Arezzo (Arretium). This Arretme sigillata originated at an undetermined date probably in the first century B C By c A 25 it was confronted in western Europe by rival potteries established in Gaul, in some cases by the Italian potters themselves, and, though it lingered on until after the Roman invasion of Britain in A D 43, it was driven from the western market 50 by In the East, where provincial rivalry may not have been at first so acute, it is possible It is conceivable (though (though not proved) that Arretine ware lasted a little longer again not proved) that, in its simpler forms such as are normal at Ankamedu, the ware may even have been retained specifically for export-trade, like the celadon of medieval China (see below, p 91) In the absence of alternative evidence, however, we must assume the general validity of the results of detailed study western Europe, and must suppose that no Arretine pottery reached India after A 50 The literary record makes it clear that Romano-Indian trade remained brisk until There is furthermore no break the long after the middle of the first century A It is a occupation of Ankamedu at the moment when Arretine ware ceased to arnve there fair inference therefore that the latest Arretme on the site belongs to the last phase of the 45-50 and considering the initial moment of Roman production of the ware, i e c A

At Ankamedu, however, we
sigillata,

metropolitan

AD

D D

we may reasonably argue backwards from that date Such argument is necessanly somewhat subjective, but in the cutting where the evidence was clearest (AK II, see fig 2) only four layers, all of them of sandy estuanne mud likely to have been deposited quickly, contained Arretme sherds, and little more than thirty years might be regarded as sufficient
contact,
is consistent with this Save for probably of Dragendorff's form 11, with leaf-pattern (fig 7, 32 and pi XXIV, 4), the sherds represent undecorated cups and dishes, in some cases even without the normal roulettmg These negative features may be regarded as symptoms of lateness although it may also be supposed that only the cheaper products of the kilns were used for this overseas trade, particularly since the fabnc was in any case technically superior to that of the Indian pottery of the period and would therefore find a ready market I have proposed therefore A D 20-50 as the inclusive period for the Arretme pottery

for their accumulation So far as it goes, the character of the pottery itself
tiny fragment,

one

at

Ankamedu
4

II (thirteen The stratum which produced most of the sherds of Arretme ' on site out of a total of eighteen from the cutting) is shown as 7 Ar on the section, fig 2, Below it, a succession of sandy and was approximately at the present mean sea-level deposits contained pottery to a further depth of 10 feet, beyond which clean sand, devoid of Of this further 10 feet, only the uppermost 2 feet (layers 8A, 8 relics, was encountered There were thus green, and 1 1C) yielded sherds of Arretme, to the total number of four still 8 feet of accumulation, the pottery from which did not include Arretine
Palestine, in the Near East', Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities (19^8), the sense of pottery de luxe vasa arretina (Arretine pottery) was retained by the Romans Standard references to this ware include even after the actual potteries of Arretium had ceased production
'Sigillata
1

AK

wares

in

VI

4ff

The phrase

'Keramische Funde in Haltern', Dragendorff, Banner Jahrbuther, XCVI-XCVII (1895-6), S Loeschcke, 1909), E Ritterlmg, 'Das frUhrOmische , Mitteilungen der Altertwns-Kommission fur Westfalen, V (Munster i Lager bei Hofheim im Taunus', Annalen des Veremsfw nassauische Altertumskutule (Wiesbaden, 1913) , F Oswald

and

Davis Prycc, Terra Stgillata (London, 1920)

35

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
Above stratum
*

in stratum 5,

7 Ar only one sherd of Arretme was found in an undisturbed deposit which formed a part of the make-up of the floor-level of the warehouse', a brick building constructed on and into stratum 7 Ar Otherwise, the most significant occurrence of sigillata was on the mam southern site, AK IV, where a stamped sherd immediately underlay a brick wall of the Early Phase By sites, the Arretine ware found during the present excavations was as follows (all from the Northern Sector except IV), together with some sherds from the previous

AK

excavations
ARRETINE SHERDS, STRATIFIED
Fig
5

AK
(a)

II

From
1

the

make-up of the floor of the 'warehouse'

flat

Fragment of

base of dish

(AK

II,

589

(b)

From stratum 7 Ar
2
3

Fragment of rouletted rim of Loeschcke type 2A Flat base of dish possibly of similar type, stamped
side of base

(AK

II,

342

VIBIE

(see

p 39)

Indeterminate

graffiti

on under

(AK

II,

266)
1

4
5

6
7

Fragment of similar dish (AK II, 312 ) Fragment of cannated side of very thin, fine fabric, variant of Dragendorff type 8 or Loeschckc type 5 Approximates to a stamped example of Claudian date (AD 41-54) from Mainz (Oswald and (AK II, 311) Pryce, op cit pi XXXIX, 14) Minute sherd with internal groove, possibly fragment of Loeschcke type 10A, but too small for
,

reasonable conjecture
8
9.

(AK

II,

344

10

12
13

14
(c )

Fragment of flat base of dish (AK II, 343 ) (AK II, 314) Fragment of rouletted nm of Loeschcke type 2A or similar Fragment of base-ring of dish (AK II, 298 ) This type of ware was being produced Indeterminate fragment of marbled ware (yellow with red veins) (AK II, by Arretine potters at least as early as the beginning of the first century A D (see p 14) 506) Not illustrated (AK II, 587 ) Fragment of Dragendorff type 17 or Loeschcke type 3B (AK II, 587 Fragment of flat base of dish with ring of fine rouletted pattern on upper surface (AK II, 530 ) Fragment of variant of Loeschcke type 3B Fragment of flat base of dish of 'marbled' ware See above, under No 10 (AKII.4IO)
'

'

Layer 8A (prior
15

to 7

Ar)
base of dish with incised line on interior
therefore later than layer 8 green')
'

Fragment of

flat

(AK
8

II,

397

(d)

Layer 11C
16

(cut into

and

Fragment possibly of variant of Loeschcke or Dragendorff type

Orange-red glaze

(AK

II,

517

(e)

Layer 8 green (lowest Arretine layer) 17 Fragment of flat base of dish

(AK

II,

550

Not

illustrated

AK
(f) Pottery

W
7
)

18

Group A (earlier than the earliest, save one, of the brick structures on the site) Base, form indeterminate, stamped ITTA (see p 40) Fragmentary graffito (svastika The glaze is of mediocre quality and is orange-red (AK IV, 54 )
1

on under side

AK y
(g) Pit 7, high

19

up outside S wall of warehouse Fragment of dish-like bowl, variant of Dragendorff type 24

glaze

Red
V, 61

glaze
)

on

exterior of

nm, yellow

on

interior,

and possibly on

exterior

below
36

nm

(AK

To face page 36

PLATE XVIII

1A

l\

}\a/l of / nrl\

t, \\ith

po\t-hole*

ami \upenmpo\ul

\\

all

of

\fuUllc

Phase

AK IV

H<///

of Middle Phase

built o\er

PLATE XIX

To face plate

XX

-JA 1\

ualhof Mid/It

pl, int

hmlt

AK IV

To face

plate

XIX

PLATE XX

(A

li

lank

\ho\\inz i\\o

main puiod\ of fhni

AK

7^

'

/tfwA,

E P = fiir/y P/JflVf

V^

= A//J<//e Phase, LP = Late Phase

PLATE XXI

To

fat e

page 37

AR1KAMEDV
'-*

TT

22
FIG 5

C
\
37

L--"-==~.-J
(potters'

Arretme pottery from

stratified layers, 1945.

names

m 3,

18 and 21,

ANCIENT

INDIA,

NO

AK
(h) Pit

Vll

24

(high up. cf

AK \\ Pit
type

7)

20
21

Rim of Loeschcke

2A

or variant

(AK

VII, 14

Base possibl) of Loeschcke type 8 or (AKVU, 15)

Ritterlmg

type

5,

with

stamp

CAMVRI

(see

40)

30

31

29
FlG 6

..hi
Arretme pottery from mixed
la} er&,

1945

AK
(i)

Vlll
it

Pit

J,

cut into *all of warehouse,

and

therefore subsequent to

22

Variant of Dragendorff type 16 or Loeschcke type 3

(AK

VIII, 49

ARRETINE SHERDS FROM MIXED LAYERS

2T

Fig 6

Variant of Loeschcke

23a 24 25 26 27 28

2A or Dragendorff type 17 Cf Oswald and Pryce, op tit, pi XLII, 9-11 (Tibeno-Claudian, c A D 25-50) (AK II, 452 ) Sherd of imitation or provincial terra sigillata, of reddish grey fabric with light red glaze and very rough external roulettmg (AK II, 399 ) Fragment of flat base of dish (AK II, 482 ) Fragment of base of dish with incised line on interior (AK II, 503 ) Fragment of base of dish with two concentric incised lines on interior (AK II, 602 ) Fragment of rim of Loeschcke type 4B or Ritterlmg type 1 (AK IV, 187 ) Rim of Loeschcke type 2 (AK X, 2 )
38

To face page 38

PLATE XXII

1A

II

it

nil of

qmulninali of

lank

\ho\\ in%

Lai h and \1uidh Plui\i

\\iih

<.

/wu'v for limbering

T\pe

/,

rouletted norc

PLATE

XXIII

To face page 39

irutint

Wt;/>//>

MIL

or

Hill

\tnitnt \nm,/> C

l\fl

HI

Arretine stamp

ITT

Scale 2

ARIKAMEDU
29 30
31

Variant of Locschckc type 2 (AK X, 3 ) Fragment of rouletted nm of Loeschcke type 8 or Ritterlmg type 5 Rim of Ritterlmg type 5 No roulcttmg (AK X, 1 )

(AK

X, 4

AKRBTINE POTTERY FROM THE PREVIOUS (FRENCH) EXCAVATIONS

Fig 7

33

,
'

32

34

35

39
I

.-

f"">E:j

'.

IG

Arretine potter\ from the previous (French) excavations

These sherds are unstratified, but Nos 37 and 38 are said to have been found at a depth which would equate them with our Arretme-producing lajers on AK II 32 The sherd is too small to indicate Fragment of hne ware with leaf-pattern impressed from a mould form possibly DragendortT type 1 1 PI XXIV, 4 33 Fragment of large dish, Locschtke type 2A 34 Fragment of dish, Loeschcke type 3B
,

35 36 37 38

Ditto

PI

XXIV,

Base of dish Base of cup, with indeterminate fragment of potter's stamp Base of cup, probably Loeschcke type 8 or Ritterlmg type 5 PI XXIV, 3 graffito k or, more probably, BrShml a 39, 40 Cups of Loeschcke type 8 or Ritterlmg type 5 PI XXIV,

On
2, 5

the under side of the base

is

POTTERS* STAMPS
I

ON ARRETINE WARE

(pi

XXIII and

fig

5)

VIBII {probably VIBIE, possibly VIBIF) On the interior of the flat base of There seem to have been a dish, form uncertain Found on Site II, layer 7 Ar two families of Arezzo potters, the Vibu and the Vibiem, to the latter of whom this stamp would appear to belong, but no attempt has been made to distinguish their Miss V Taylor, to whom I have referred the problem, has respective work and date very kindly spent much time looking up the appropriate literature at Oxford, and the The first and perhaps best account is by Gamurnm following is a summary of her report in Notizie degh Scavi, 1 883, pp 45 Iff He says that the pottenes of the Vibiem at Arezzo were near those of Perenmus and P Cornelius by S Maria in Gradi, and worked both before and after them. On the death of C. Vibienus, his sons succeeded to the industry.

AK

39

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

What their relation was with the pottery of "Vibius" is not clear, or which employed the other, but the Vibieni and Vibii descended from an ancient Etrurian family, the Vibia, whose name is still preserved in Bibbiena. In any case, north of Arezzo, close to S Domemco, was the pottery of A(ulus) and C(aius) Vibius who, according to coins found, worked in the second and first centuries B.C. After the death of Vibius, the industry was carried on by his workers, Athemus and others The names of workers with the Vibn include Vibius and L. Vibius (Corpus Inscnptionwn Latmarum, XI, Vibius, 6,700, 765ff ; XV, 5,750-60 , XIII, 10,009, 290-300)

'Loeschcke, Mitteilungen der Altertums-Kommission fur Westfalen, V (1909), 186, says that, since the Vibn are found at Mont Beuvray, Neuss, Tnon, Vechten and Xanten but do not occur at Haltern (occupied 11 B 16), they evidently flourished before the latter dates He does not, however, distinguish between the two families of Vibii and T Kmpowitsch, Die Vibieni, and most of his evidence appears to relate to the Vibii Keramik romischer Zeit aus Olbia (1929), 9, No 3, Abb 2 and p 12, gives VIB1E (might be The VIBIF), and, basing on Loeschcke, dates it to the last years of the first century B C collection however has no independent documentation Ihffe (op cit on p 35, above) records VIBI and C VIBI on dishes from the agora at Athens, but again there is (at present) no independent dating On the other hand, F Oswald in his Indet of Stamps on Terra Sigillata ascribes C Vibius of Montans, in southern France, to the period Claudius-

C-A D

Vespasian (c
It

AD
,

'

41-79)

would appear therefore that members of the Vibia family were producing Arretme or related pottery from the beginning of the first century B C until after the middle of the first century A D though in the latter stages only denvative provincial wares are in question The evidence is consistent with an earlier initial date for the Ankamedu series than I have suggested above (p 22), but is far too confused to be determinate
2 CAMVRI On the interior of the flat base of a cup, probably Loeschcke type 8 Found on VII in Pit 2A, probably contemporary with the or Ritterlmg type 5 The stamp is somewhat blurred, but the cross-stroke of the A appears 'warehouse' to have been amalgamated with the right instead of the left half of the The stamp of Gams Amunus occurs on Arretine at Olbia (Knipowitsch, as cited above), at Beisan See Iliffe, as cited above the Athens agora Palestine, at Alexandria, and In at least three instances it is recorded on dishes of Dragendorff 's form 1 8 this form is characteristic of the last phase of Arretine production, but the date of its introduction is unknown It occurs also on the dish known as 'Ritterlmg 5 which is found at Hof heim

AK

'

41-54) 3 ITTA On the interior of the flat base of a dish, form uncertain, with an orangered glaze Found on IV in Pottery Group which just antedated the earliest, save two, of the brick walls on that site It is uncertain where Possibly a retrograde stamp of the Augustan potter P Attms he worked ( 9 Puteoh or Arezzo) Ilifle records his stamp from the Athens agora, and it has been found (ATTI) at Mainz on Arretine of Ritterlmg type 5 in 'marbled' ware (Behn,

m the Claudian period (A D

AK

Romische Keramik, Abb 10, 1 whence Oswald and Pryce, op cit pi XXVIII, 1), and at Haltern (Loeschcke Nos 117 and 118) His wares were therefore in use within the period 1 1 B C -A D 16, the period of the occupation of Haltern
,

COPIES OF ARRETINE FORMS,

AND RELATED WARES

(fig

8)

Close copies of Arretine forms at Ankamedu are restricted to Dragendorff type 24/25, a small bowl with rouletted nm The copies are of a hard greyish buff ware with polished surface, and differ in fabric sufficiently from the local wares to make it reasonably certain
40

AR1KAMEDU

Two examples were found in the recent excavations, one of them in that they are imports Other examples, of which two are illustrated a layer which also produced Arretme pottery (fig 8, 44-5 and pi XXIV, 6), were found previously by the French excavators

43
FIG 8

41-2 and 44-5, copies of Arretme form*

43, similar fabric

Occasional sherds of similar fabric but less distinctive form probably also represent

imported wares 41 From AK

II, level 8A, which also produced Arretine sherd No 15 Copy of Dragendorff t\pe 24/25 Rouletted rim Hard, polished greyish buff ware, grey (Loesthcke t)pe 12 or Ritterling type 6) 456 below (AK II, From AK VII level 3AN, contemporary with warehouse' Fragment of bowl with rim rebated for 42 Not an Arrctint form, but of the same foreign fabric as Nos 44-5 (AK VII, 31 ) lid From a layer immediately overlying No 42 Fragment of rouletted nm, probably of imitation of 41 (AK VII, 34 ) Dragendorff type 24 Grey ware, reddish buff surface From the French excavations of 1943, said to have been found at 60 metres below sea-le\eF, 44 and 4S e at approximately the same horizon as the lowest Arretine sherds from the present excavations
)
i

C opics ot Dragendortt type 24/25

Hard polished

greyish buff ware.

(u) Imported amphorae Sherds of amphorae of Mediterranean type and fabric were found on all the excavated II This sites in every significant stratum, with the exception of the lowest (layer 15) on layer probably represents the old foreshore, and did not yield much pottery of any kind The exception is not therefore of importance and it may fairly be said that, unless for a disturbed soil, few superficial and fragmentary walls built of re-used brickbats largely the importation of amphorae continued throughout the occupation of the town, as excavated The function of the amphorae was doubtless that for which these vessels were comReference has already monly used in their lands of origin namely, to contain wine or oil been made (above, p 21) to Tamil records of the ancient importation of wine into India from the West, and many of the sherds of amphora from Ankamedu, including the earliest stratigraphically, preserve an internal incrustation which, on analysis, is found to contain 1 resin, a common constituent of Mediterranean wines A majority of the sherds is too fragmentary for a reconstruction of the types represented. But a number of them are of a pink fabric with yellow slip which, in Europe, is commonly and some of the of a date before rather than after the middle of the first century A handles are of the rectilinear and high-shouldered profile to which a similar dating applies Stratigraphically it would appear that the arrival of amphorae preceded that of Arretine 11 see above, p 22), and amphorae continued to be imported or ware (notably on at least used for a considerable time after the introduction of Arretine ware had ceased. Thus on site IV, the earliest, save two, of the brick walls overlay a sherd of Arretine (which in turn overlay a stratum containing amphorae), but amphora-sherds are found in all strata which can be related to the subsequent structural phases

AK

AK

AK

Information from the Chemist of the Archaeological Survey of India. 41

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

In the course of the 1945 excavations, 116 amphora sherds, representing approximately the same number of vessels, were found. All sherds showing any part of the shape of the vessel are here illustrated (figs. 9 and 10).

TT'/-

47

149

59

Fio 9

Imported amphorae from

stratified layers,

Northern Sector

42

ARfKAMEDU
(a) Stratified

amphorae from the Northern Sector

From pre-Arretine
46 47
48

layers
,

From AK II, stratum 14 (the lowest save one 6 feet below present sea-level) Rim of pinkish buff ware Cannated shoulder, pink ware with yellow slip From AK V, stratum 11 A, underlying the wail of the 'warehouse and equivalent to strata 13 and 14 on AK II Rim of yellow-slipped buff ware, same type as No 46 From AK V, stratum 11, a pre-Arretine layer immediately below present sea- level
4

From

Arretine layers

49
50
51

Fragment of handle of gritty pinkish buff ware from AK II, stratum 8A, which also contained a sherd of Arretine (above, p 36) Bluntly pointed base, of pink ware with yellow slip, from AK n, stratum 10A, which immediately
overlay 8A Part of straight handle from
the site

AK

II,

stratum 7 Ar, which yielded most of the Arrctine sherds from

7

Yellow ware
7,

52
53

From

AK VHIA, stratum

which equates with the Arretme-produung layer

VIII, stratum 5,

Ar of

AK

II

Pinkish

buff ware with yellow slip

Angular shoulder from Pink ware

layers

AK

which equates with the Arretine layer 7 Ar of

AK

II

From post- Arretine

54
55

Bluntly pointed base from Pink ware, yellow slip

Ak

II,

stratum 7H, contemporary with the construction of the warehouse'

Rim and
Ivmg
7

Ar and

of the first half of the first century A D (Loeschcke type 66, Rittcrlmg tvpe 73) From the same stratum as No 55 Angular shoulder, of pink ware with yellow slip Angular shoulder, pink ware with vellow slip, from AK II, stratum 7A, equivalent to that of Nos 55 and S6 58 Straight handle, pinkish ware with yellow slip, from Ak If, stratum 7D, make-up of floor of warehouse 59 From \k II, stratum 6, make-up of floor Bluntly cannated shoulder, pinkish ware with yellow slip of 'warehouse Short handles, pink ware with yellow slip, from \k V, Pit 1, subsequent to destruction of warehouse 60,61
56
57

From II, stratum 9, immediately overstraight high-shouldered handle, of pink ware The straight, high-shouldered handle is characteristic equivalent to 7H (No 54)

AK

This stump) type of handle

lived
it

is

contemporary with the

tall straight ivpe,

No 5\

but also long out-

(b)

Stratified

amphorae from

the Southern Sector

(AK IV)

62
63

(with sigillata base stamped IITA), immediately underlying the earliest-but-onc of the britk structures Dram Period' Angular shoulder, fine pinkish buff ware, dating from the beginning of the

Rim, pink ware, from Pottery Group

mam

64
65

Stumpy handle, pinkish

buff ware,

from the same layer

as

No

63

66
67.

68 69

Fragment of straight handle, from a slightly later ware with yellow slip Pointed base, pink ware with yellow slip Late Drain Period' Late Phase Fragment of handle of gritty pink ware Late Phase Fragment of handle of fine yellow clay Late Phase Fragment of straight handle, gritty pink ware
(c)

structure of the same phase as Nos 6"M

Pmk

From mi\ed

deposits of the Northern Sector

70
71.

72
73
74.

Fragment of handle, pink ware with yellow slip (AK II ) Straight handle, pink ware Rim, buff ware (AKII) Part of straight handle, pink ware with buff slip Rim, pink ware (AK II )
43

(Ak (AK

II )

II )

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

FIG

10

Imported amphorae

62-69, from stratified layers. Southern Sector

70-84t from mixed layers

44

AR1KAMEDV
75 76

77 78 79

Curved handle, fine pink ware with yellow slip (AK VITI ) Rim, pinkish ware with yellow slip (AK VIII ) (AK VIII Bluntly pointed base, pink ware with yellow slip (AK Vin ) Bluntly pointed base, pink ware (AK VII ) Straight handle, pinkish ware with buff slip
(d)

from

mi\eil deports of the Southern Sector

80
81

82

Fragment of handle, pink ware with yellow slip (AK IV ) This type of handle occurs at Haltern Sharply shouldered handle, fine pinkish ware with yellow slip early in the first century A D and is found rarely at Hofheim towards the middle of the century It is exceptional after A D 50 (AK IV ) Rim of pink ware, traces of yellow slip (AK IV )
(e)

From

the

prewous (French)

e\cavation<>
slip

83-84

Necks of amphorae of

light

pink ware, 83 with buff

Note

an amphora from Ta \ila

The only other Indian site known to have yielded an amphora of Mediterranean type is Taxila (Punjab), where an example (fig 1) was found at a depth of 7 feet 4 inches in the Parthian city of S'irkap, and is dated by Now in the Taxila Museum Unlike the Ankamedu Sir John Marshall to the first centuries B C -A D amphorae, which must represent maritime trade, the Taxila example is on general grounds more hkeh perhaps
1

to have travelled overland

from western Asia

FIG

11

Imported amphora from Ta\ila Punjab

t

$
l

(in) Rouletted black ware

(Ankamedu Type

1)

characteristic pottery-type of Ankamedu is a dish (Type 1) sometimes more than 12 inches in diameter, with an incurved and beaked rim which usually has a facetted edge The ware has a remarkably smooth surface, is thin, brittle and well-burnt, and has an almost metallic ring The flat interior is normally decorated with two, occasionally three, concentric

This pattern is not an bands of rouletted pattern (fig 12 and pis XXIIB, XXV, XXVI) Indian feature and may be regarded as an importation from the Mediterranean region, but It may it has not yet been possible to ascertain whether the type itself is of similar origin
1

This and the following sections on the pottery are contributed by

Mr

Krishna Deva

45

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

in any case be presumed that the varieties with distinctly inferior fabnc and degenerate rouletted pattern were manufactured locally Sherds of the rouletted black ware are present in all strata of all excavated sites at Ankamedu Thus on II, which is the representative site of the Northern Sector, this ware occurs from the topmost to the lowest stratum, immediately overlying the natural soil, and thus appears to have come into vogue even earlier than the imported amphorae, With this exception (which may be accidental, which are found all layers save the lowest see p 22), the ware is seen to be stratigraphically and chronologically co-extensive with the amphora, though it is found in much greater abundance It both preceded and outIt is, however, noteworthy that the lasted the Arretme ware by an appreciable margin type is relatively more abundant in the pre-Arretme and Arretme layers of the Northern Sector, uhich signifies that the type became less popular after the middle of the first century Similarly, in the Southern Sector (AK IV) it is seen to be commoner in the earlier The first appearance of the rouletted pattern at Ankamedu than in the later deposits is therefore as early as the end of the first century B C or beginning of the first century , the approximate date of the lowest layers of H, while its terminal date is determined 200 by the latest occupation in the Southern Sector of the town, attributable to c The ware was carefully potted on a quick wheel from a fine well-levigated clay which burned grey or, more often, greyish pink, the grey colour being due to the reducing condiBefore firing, it was usually treated inside and outside tion under which the pot was fired with a slip which, on being subjected to an inverted firing, turned black inside and showed variegated shades of grey, black, yellow or brown outside Occasionally both faces are covered with black slip and rarely with brown The different shades of the slip occur in the following order of frequency

AK

AD

AD

AK

AD

Greyish pink ware, grey

slip inside,

2
3

black

brown to sepia outside brown outside

4
5

Grey ware, black slip brown

inside

and out

black slip with magnetic lustre (below, p 94)

Of

Arretme
layer of

these, the first four are of universal occurrence, while the last is confined to the prelayers of the Northern Sector with an overlap in the lowest Arretme-producing

AK II
In

V (Northern Sector) immediately underon both faces, comes from an early layer of lying the south wall of the 'warehouse' and ascnbable to the second quarter of the first
century

was often burnished while the exterior seldom received this cases the polish is high, though inferior to the lustre of the *black The specimens polished pottery' of northern India (Ancient India, No. 1, 1946, p 55) from the pre-Arretme strata are marked by a generally brighter polish than those from The best-finished example of this type, with a remarkably high polish later deposits
interior surface

The

attention

some

AK

AD

varieties of the mam type may be distinguished by diversity of shape, fabric and rouletted design (fig 12) \a has a more incurved nm and is characteristic of the Early Phase (mid and late first century A D ) of the Southern Sector, while \b has the same form as 1 save for the external ribbings, which are absent in the pre-Arretme layers but are of occasional occurrence in later deposits Variants \c-d, distinguished by a very pronounced

few

inward projection or beak, are confined to the pre-Arretme layers, although a blunter form, \e, occurs rarely in these layers and survives occasionally (I/-/) throughout the occupation, associated sometimes with high external grooving One or two of the latter were shallow bowls rather than dishes and may have lacked the internal roulettmg
46

To face page 46

PLATE XXIV

5,

4rretine potier\

6,

oj 4rretinc Jorni

PLATE XXV

To face plate

XXVI

T\pe

/, \anetit"*

of rvuletnn%

T\pc

/,

varufies oj rouletting

To face plate

XXV

PLATE XXVI

T\pe

\arieiu

of r

T\pe

/,

tourw

rouletiing

PLATE XXVII

To face page 47

Rouletteii \\ure

/,

from Cluindru\a{li, \f\sort'

2 anil J, from 4marCi\iHi

B.

Base of pre-Arretme pot

sho\\

mg

basket 'impression

AR1KAMEDV

47

ANCIENT INDIA, HO

The roulettmg also shows a variety of forms (pis XXV and XXVIA), consisting of minute triangles , diamonds or parallelograms wedges or uprights crescents ovals or dots Of these, the triangles are or an eye-shaped device which is only an attenuated diamond The other patterns also have a long vogue the most common and occur in all strata with the exception of the eye-shaped device (pi XXVA), which is peculiar to the preArretine layers of the Northern Sector, with an overlap in the lowest Arretine-producing
, ,
, ,

layer of

AK II

Lastly, fabric which

we may notice varieties of this type in an unmistakably inferior, usually thicker, The rouletted pattern, too, shows is commonly left unslipped and unpolished deterioration on these varieties, which appear to have been locally manufactured One

B, 5), variety, of a thick gritty blackish grey ware with shallow rouletted design (pi* occurs only in the Southern (later) Sector solitary specimen from an Arretine level of the Northern Sector V, 8N) shares all features of this variety but differs from it

XXVI

(AK

It is significant that while these varieties are absent (with one exception from AK V just mentioned) from the pre-Arretme and Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and occur only the Southern Sector (AK IV) sporadically in the later layers there, they are fairly common There are also some rare examples through all phases of its more prolonged occupation of rouletted red wares of thick coarse fabric from AK IV (all periods), which are doubtless of local origin (pi XXVIB, 6-8) Elsewhere in India only three sites are at present known to have yielded sherds of rouletted black ware Chandra valli and Brahmagm (both Chitaldrug District), m the and Amaravatl (Nellore District) in the Madras northern part of Mysore State excavation have not been published but are The Chitaldrug sherds found Presidency preserved in the Museum of the State Archaeological Department at Mysore, and others A sherd from Chandravalli is said to have been picked up on the two sites (pi XXVIIA, ) have been derived from a stratum which produced two denarii of Tiberius (A D 14-37) and two fragments of imported red-glazed ware of Arretine type This is consistent with the Ankamedu dating From the same site come fragments of dishes with bevelled nms These fragments include examples with yellowalso analogous to the Ankamedu type and n) a type of decoration widespread painted patterns on a russet ground (fig 13, in southern India and now seen to be, at least part, contemporary with the Ankamedu

Another variety consists of thick gntless grey ware with having a polished black slip poor roulettmg, and a third shows a scattered and rough rouletted pattern (pi XXVIB, 2-4)
in

iv

r
,

VI

FIG 13

I-H,

from Chandravalli, Mysore Slate tn-iv, from Madras Presidency

BairSt, Jaipur State,

v-vi,from Amar&vati,

$
'

to

For a preliminary account of the Chandravalli excavations, sec Excavations at Chandravalli ', Supplenn he Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for the year 1929 (Bangalore, 1931)
1

48

ARIKAMEDU
From Amaravati are derived two sherds of rouletted ware of Ankamedu Type 1, now in the Government Museum, Madras (pi XXVIIA, 2 and 3), and rims of the same type have recently been picked up on the Amaravati town-site (fig 13, v and vi) In North India, in Jaipur State, a fragment of a dish with an mturned beaked nm generally approximating to the Ankamedu type and with a hard grey fabric and polished brown surface, also analogous, was found at Baira{ and is preserved in the Archaeological Museum at Jaipur (fig. 13, in) The fragment is too small to indicate whether the base was rouletted, and this feature must not be assumed The rim, unlike the Ankamedu type, is upturned, as is that of a further example of similar ware from Bairat (fig 13, iv) For other resemblances between northern wares and those of Ankamedu, see p 93
occupation
The following
1

are selected examples of

Type

and

its

variants (fig

12)

Polished grey ware of fine fabric with black slip inside and on outer base, and light brown on outer This is the arch-type The specimen illustrated has, however, individual features an inconspicuous external cannation near the rim and a groove below, which runs less than half-way round the pot Like a

nm

majority of the type,

it

bears

two rows of

fine

century

AD

roulettmg

From

a pre-Arretine layer

(AK

V,

A) early
,

first

\a Polished grey ware with pink patches on exterior and black-slipped interior, and two rings of rouletted Similar to 1 but with a more pronounced inward curve From Pottery Group A, Early Phase of pattern TV, containing an Arretme sherd stamped ITTA, mid first century \b Similar to 1 but with ribbings on the exterior From the 'Arretme' horizon, V, 8N

AK

AD

AK

Variety with unusually prominent beaked run projecting inward, and a series of external grooves Fabnc as I From a pre-Arretine layer (AK V, 1 1 A) Id Polished grey ware of fine fabric, greyish Smaller and thinner variety of Ic with a more incurved side
Ic

blue slip inside and on outer base, and light brown on exterior
\e

nm From a pre-Arretine layer (AK V, 1A) Rim-fragment of polished greyish brown ware of fine-grained fabric with a blunt but prominent notched beak and external groove From a pre- Arretme layer (AK II, 14) Fine grey ware, polished black slip inside and brown outside From a layer containing Arretme ware If
1

first half of first century A.D svastika Fine grey ware with pink patches Shape similar to If Traces of greyish black slip D cut on the outside after firing IV , probably second century From the Late Phase of l/i Similar but slightly inferior ware, black internally and brown externally, with blunt beak and high external grooving This example represents a small bowl rather than a dish, and ma) not have had internal

(AK

II,

1C),

\g

AK

IV , approximately mid first century From Pottery Group on Similar ware to la Blunt beak and high external grooving, former presence of internal roulettmg uncertain From Southern Sector, 'Main Drain' Period, first-second century
roulettmg

AK

AD

AD

LOCAL WARES

Introductory note

Previous sections of this report have dealt mainly with imported wares or motifs But by far the greater mass of the Ankamedu pottery consisted of local wares, to which the imported material now for the first time gives an approximate chronology With a few exceptions, the local pottery was turned on the wheel The exceptions include a class of portable ovens, rings of 'ring-wells ', some large troughs and storage jars, and conical jars of Type 75, the last being partly wheel-turned and partly hand-made The normal d6graissants are sand and grit, but mica and straw or husk are occasionally used for this purpose. The fabric was usually a porous clay containing a fair amount of sand, which burned pink or greyish red to light red under oxidizing conditions of firing and dull For a special class of grey or grey to greyish black under reducing conditions in the kiln greyish pink wares a superior quality of clay, free from grit and remarkably fine-grained, was employed. Slips are fairly common, and a fair percentage of the pottery was either
49

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

The vast majority of the types salt-glazed (below, p 93) or treated with a burnished slip. are plain and utilitarian in character. Decorated types are rare, and decoration is generally simple and primitive in character, the commonest being finger-Up ornament small percentage of Arikamedu pottery was subjected to inverted firing, i.e. was placed upside-down in the kiln with a fair quantity of carbonaceous matter stuffed inside As a result of this firing, the whole of the interior and the portion of the exterior (usually the nm) which came into direct contact with the fuel turned jet black, and the remaining

outer surface became red under oxidizing conditions and grey under reducing conditions in the kiln For the sake of brevity we shall refer to the former as black-and-red ware and The effect was strikingly picturesque if the pots were the latter as black-and-grey ware treated with a slip and salt-glazed (below, p 93) in course of firing, a feature which is characteristic specially of the 'Arretine' period of the Northern Sector (first half of first

century

AD)

For purposes of classification, the local pottery is divisible into two broad groups, The wares the first coming from the Northern Sector and the second from the Southern from the earliest layers of the Northern Sector are predominantly grey, with a sprinkling
In later deposits of this of red wares mostly painted with haematite or bright red slip Sector there was a progressive increase in the quantity of red ware, until it assumes panty In the with the grey and finally outnumbers the latter as the top layers are reached Southern Sector, the occupation of which began later and lasted later, a crude type of Though many types of the Northern pottery overwhelmingly red in colour is predominant Sector are present here, some new varieties of familiar types and a number of altogether new types are in evidence , whilst the fabric, even in the earliest layers, is generally inferior to that of the Northern Sector, and becomes increasingly degenerate towards the top layers The conclusion is that the pottery of the Southern Sector represents in the main a continued The process of devolution already incipient in the later layers of the Northern Sector occasional introduction of new types in the Southern Sector seems to indicate, however, that other influences were at work alongside the normal processes of evolution or devolution For the convenience of study, the local pottery and other finds from Arikamedu may be divided into the following chronological classes, corresponding with the stratigraphical evidence

(1)

(first century 'Pre-Arretme', le finds from the layers underlying those which yielded Arretme pottery and ascnbable to the end of the first century B C. or the beginning of the first century (2) 'Arretine', i e finds from the layers yielding Arretine pottery, and other equivalent layers of the first half of the first century A (mainly c A D 20-50) (3) 'Post-Arretine', i e finds from all the upper layers, which in the absence of any significant sub-division will be dealt with together They are of the mid or

Northern Sector

AD)

AD

late first century

AD

Southern Sector, mostly

AK IV

(1) 'Pre-structural', shortly before the middle (2) 'Early Phase', mid or late first century

(mid first-second century of the first century

AD)

AD

AD

(3)

'Mam Dram

Period', i e finds contemporary with the elaborate system of drains and connected walls of Middle Phase, sub-period 1; first-second century

AD.,
(4; 'Late

Dram Period ', i e. finds contemporary with the additions and restorations to the dram and other connected walls of Middle Phase, sub-periods 2 and 3 , second century

mam

AD.,

so

To face page 50

PLATE XXVIII

/)r/v<>

\ho\\mg basket-impression and graffito decoration

Decorated sherds from pre-Arretme

lay ers

PLATE XXIX

To

fac e plate

XXX

De<.

orated s/jm/s from prc-

\ rrcttnt

In

Decorated sherd from pre- irretme

la\ ers

To face plate

XXIX

PLATE XXX

Dei orated \herds ftom Arreime la\ers

Dei orated sherth fiom Southern

Sa tor,

Pre-Vructural Phase

PLATE XXXI

To face plate

XXXII

Graffito

So {them
\

Set for,

Pre~ 4rrelme sherd,

MttMlt Pha\t

\ortlnrn Sector

Painted and incised sherds

Southern Sector, Earl \ Phase

To face plate

XXXI

PLATE XXXII

Pu\l-4rrctini \heid,

\itrtliern bettor

/)<<

orated \herd\

Southern Set lor Laic Drain Pha\c

A RIKA MED U
(5) 'Late Phase',
i e finds belonging to a period when the earlier structures were entirely discarded and their place was taken by a few isolated and fragmentary

walls here

and there second century

,

AD

or later

or early first century The pre-Arretme or earliest group of pottery from Ankamedu comes from the lowest layers of the Northern Sector which are now submerged from below mean sea-level The pottery from the following layers are included in this 2 feet to 10 feet

A(l) Pre-Arretine (latefirtt century

BC

AD)

group

AKIM
AK
K
II

r layer 12 (underlying the lowest Arretme layer)

13

(A-P) 1

L a-X)
r layer

14 15 (overlying the natural soil) layer 12

9N =

1 1 1 1

ION

(These layers are equivalent respectively to 13 and 14 of

is

AK

II

predominantly grey and of a coarse to medium fabric, usually treated with a greyish chalky slip which is not infrequently polished or salt-glazed The only exception occurs the lowest layer of AK II which has yielded more red than grey ware, but, as little pottery of any kind was found in this layer, which presumably represents the old foreshore, the exception cannot be stressed The distmctiNc feature of this group is the occasional use of a bluish chalky slip, which is absent on pottery It occurs on a fair number of common from later deposits grey-ware pots belonging to Types 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 21, 24, 28, 30, 31, 43, 48, 59, 74, 93 and 101 Analysis shows that the chalky matter consists of an aqueous 1 suspension of kaolin, while the bluish shade is due to traces of ferrous oxide Salt-glazed bowls of Types 9, 9d and 9h-m of a polished black-and-grey fabric are also characteristic of Another feature peculiar to it is a black slip with magnetic lustre (magnetic oxide of iron) which this group A majority of the characteristic types of Arikamedu occurs occasionally on Types 1, 2 and 9 (below, p 94) These include Types 1-4, 8-12, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 42-45, 48, 54, are already present in this group 72, 74-76, 82-84, 87-88, 93, 97 and 101 55, 59, 60. 70, Ornamentation is rare on the pre-Arrelme wares and comprises, besides finger-tip ornament, simple incised and applied designs and patterns impressed deliberately or accidentally from mats or baskets (pis XXVIIB and XXVIIIB, 4-5) A black-and-red ware dish of Type 6 is remarkable for the mat-impressions on its exterior base, which is further embellished with a lotus design incised after baking (fig 1 5, Type 6 pi XXVIIIA) Other devices are a row of oblique wedge-shaped slashes on a fragmentary vessel of buff ware (pi XXXIB), incised herring-bone patterns on a number of storage jars (pi XXIX A, 1-2, 10-11), incised zig-zags on the neck of a basin (pi XXVTIIB, 3), raised bands with cross-hatched pattern on storage jars and basins (fig 30, Types 83 and 83J>, pi XXIX A, 7-9), and indentations within incised horizontal and vertical grooves (pi XXIXB) The pottery contemporary with the Arretine 20-50) A(2) Contemporary vuf/i Arnnne (t wares is distinguished from the prc-Arretine groups by the absence of the markedly bluish chalky slip, in the lowest the only exceptions occurring occasionally Arretme-producmg layer (AK II, 8 green), which Of these, six belong to Type 9, four to Type 8 and one to Type 9/i as against yielded eleven sherds with this slip Other overlaps from fifteen, thirty-four and ml respccti\cly with other varieties of slip from the same stratum the previous groups consist of two examples of black slip with magnetic lustre (below, p 94) and two fragments ware bowls of Type 9h These overlaps confirm the general continuity of culture of polished black-and-grey
these early layers

The pottery from

AD

on the site The pottery of the Arretine phase, like that of the pre-Arretme, is predominantly of a coarse grey fabric and is usually treated with greyish (not bluish) chalky slip which is often salt-glazed (below, p 93) or polished

however, noticeable towards a gradual increase in the frequency of red ware throughout the phase, and grey ware in approximately equal quantities in the latest Arretme-produung strata. Many types survived from the preceding period into this, but some new forms such as Types 18, 18o, 49, 61, 69 and 73 were introduced now for the first time Mottled ware is also peculiar to this group A small number of slipped and salt-glazed pots of Types 4, 8 and 24 exhibit patches of pink colour variegated with greenish grey, with striking effect On a dish of Type 8
trend
is,

until

we

find the red

Information from the Chemist, Archaeological Survey of India

51

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

It is, however, occurs an irregular scaly design in greenish line on a background of salt-glazed chalky slip difficult to ascertain whether the mottling was merely accidental or deliberate* Black (as distinct from dark grey) ware is represented in this period by half-a-dozen specimens belonging to Types 8, 9 and 43, as against a solitary example in the pre-Arretine group Ornamented pottery is even rarer in the Arretme phase than in the pre-Arretine Of painted decoration

there is a single fragmentary specimen, too minute for illustration, showing faint bands in black on a light red Of incised ornament, the most noteworthy is the svasnka scratched after baking on two fragmentary ground A variety of basket-impression is an innovation of this period (pi XXX, 1) bowls of Type 9 (pi XXXA, 2-3) All other patterns are survivals from the preceding phase. Post-Arretine (second half of first century A Z>)~In the post- Arretme penod of the Northern A(3) The only Sector the principal types and fabrics remained substantially the same as in the preceding periods difference occurs in the relative incidence of the red and grey wares, of which the former now becomes The muffled kiln, or firing under reducing conditions, predominant, thus indicating a change technique appears to have lost favour with the potter of the post-Arretme period, who developed a growing fondness for the open kiln or firing under oxidizing conditions this period consisted of a diminution of the vogue for burnishing and salt-glazing Another change Such utilitarian devices as spouts and handles are now in greater evidence, though they are still far from common Spouts and lug-handles, of which there are two varieties, are innovations ol this period, and are continued in the Southern Sector New forms introduced in this period were Types 5, 8^ SA-H, 9f-g, 29, 32, 33, 38, 41, 53, 71, 78, 80a, 113 and 116

Some of the old types undergo a slight modification in this period or produce new varieties Thus we get, besides the normal form, a thicker variety of Type 9w in red ware with a roughly finished surface on which no care has been taken to obliterate the corrugations produced by the wheel This new variety continues in the Southern Sector and gets progressively more degenerate there Further, a highly burnished variety of Type 4,
with a distinct ware and fabric,
is

peculiar to this period

Haematite

slip is rare in this as in the

Arretme

class

and occurs only on a few sherds of Types

9h-i

and 42
is

Southern Sector, AK I and IV, both showed extensive AK IV produced significant layers (above, p 26)

the decorative motifs of the preceding periods survived in this phase stamped design of rosettes occurring on a red-ware fragment (pi XXXIIA) The B(l)-(5) Pottery from the Southern Sector (late first-second century

Most of

The only innovation

two sites excavated in the disturbance at the hands of brick-robbers, and only

AD)

This Sector represents an essentially red-ware culture which contrasts with the grey-ware culture of the As we have seen (p 50), the transition from grey to red ware was achieved by slow stages, Northern Sector which were all traversed in the Northern Sector, so that the monopoly of red ware in the Southern Sector does not indicate a cultural intrusion there The essential continuity of the two Sectors is corroborated by the survival of most of the characteristic types of the Northern into this Sector In the latter the pottery tends to The degenerate in course of time, becoming progressively coarser and more devoid of slip in the upper levels retrograde tendency is noticeable as early as the Early Phase and becomes a regular feature of the later wares Dram Period onwards from the Late Towards the close of sub-period 1 of the Early Phase a large heap of pottery was dumped a sealed pit and is called Pottery Group A' This Group contained an Arretme bowl stamped ITTA (above, p 40), half-adozen pieces of imported amphora, the base of a pot bearing a Priknt graffito, and a large number of familiar

'

types with variants

Ornamentation is as scarce in this Sector as the Northern, and is indistinguishable from it From the Pre-structural Phase of this Sector, three sherds bear incised criss-cross patterns (pL XXXB, 2-4), two are decorated with oblique slashes (pi XXXB, 5) , the base of a grey- ware bowl is stamped on the interior with a row
of lotus petals comparable with those on fig 36, Type 141 (pi XXXB, 1) , while a rouletted sherd (Type 1) bears a graffito of lotus stalks (pi XXXB, 6) From the Early Phase comes a small carmated vessel of thin fabric, decorated with slanting rows of dots white paint on a red-slipped surface (pi XXXIC, 1) Another sherd, of

Type

bears deep slashes on the interior (pi XXXIC, 5) Mat-impressions are still frequent (pi XXXIC, 2-4) To the Drain Period belongs a sherd bearing a graffito of a double svastika (pi XXXIA) The decorated sherds from the Late Dram Phase include a fine grey-ware bowl stamped on the interior of the base with conventional lotus petals similar to Type 141 (fig 36, pL XII B, 3) , a jar-fragment bearing
8,

Mam

XX

incised palm-leaf pattern (pi.

XXXIIB,

1)

and a sherd with

52

criss-cross pattern (pi

XXXHB,

2)

AR1KAMEDU

2b

2c

3b

3c

3e

4b

5b

Fio 14

Types 2-5
53

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

Fio 15

Types 6-8
54

ARJKAMEDU
It may be added that a number of superficial and disturbed layers yielded sherds of Chinese celadon ware, evidently deposited during the spoliation of the site in the middle ages (below, p 91)

Types 2-148 a dish identical in fabric with Type 1 (p 46) but lacking the inward projection or beak at the rim Like Type 1, it has a sharply incurved side and the lip is usually facetted at the edge, but, unlike Type 1, it constitutes one of the minor The arth-type and the variant 2a with a slightly thicker nm types of the site arc occasionally found throughout the occupation of both Sectors, though they arc relatively more abundant in the pre-Arrctme and Arrctine layers of the Northern Sector Variant 26, with a thinner and more pronouncedly incurved side and a larger number of facets at the nm, is peculiar to the prc-Arretmc layers Though of a markedly coarser fabric, variant 2c shares all the other features of the type, including its polished surface it is confined to the post-Arrctme strata of the Northern Sector Type 3 is a dish with a beaked rim similar to Type 1 but, like the majority of the local types, is of an inferior This is another of the minor types of and coarser fabric also it is invariably devoid of rouletted decoration the site, though it is found in all periods of the two Sectors Variant 3a deviates from the mam type in the decoration of the inside of the base with rows of roughly incised concentric circles This feature is peculiar Variant 36, with an almost can na ted profile, is a unique specimen to the pre-AjTctmc and Arrctme layers from an Arretine stratum (AK VIII, 5) Variants 3c, 3d and 3/, which are invariably grey wares, belong to the IV, prc-Arretine strata while 3c occurs occasionally from the pre-Arretme period to the Late Phase^of

Type

is

AK

exclusive!) in red

ware

a simple dish with an incurved rim and a rounded base and, amongst dish-forms, is next to Type 1 This type is of similar fabric to Type 3, and occurs in a variety of colours such as grey, red, blackVariant 4a, having an internally clubbed rim, is a unique and-red, or black-and-grev. due to differential firing pot from a mixed group (AK VIII, pit 1 ), while 46 with a sharply incurved side is remarkable as much for its shape as for its whitish fabric Only two examples of the latter are known, both from the Late Phase of the Southern
is

Type 4

in frequency

Sector

Type 5 is a carmatcd dish with an almost straight side and is of the same coarse fabric as Type 3 This is a very rare type and does not occur earlier than the post- Arretine period in the Northern Sector and the Early Variant 5a differs from Type 5 in having a slightly concave profile, while 56 is a dish Phase in the Southern of finer grey fabric peculiar to the Early Phase of IV, including Pottery Group Type 6 is a rare dish with an incurved rim and flattened sagger base The arch-type comes from the preArrctine layers and is only found in black-and-red ware of coarse fabric The specimen illustrated has, however, individual features in being decorated with mat-impressions (pi XXVIII \) over the exterior of the base, which is embellished with a large lotus flower incised after baking Variants 60-6 are grey wares occurring exclusively in the pre-Arreune layers and are even rarer than the main type Variant 6a with a lip thinner than the arch-

AK

type,
i

is

incised with

numerous concentric grooves on the

concave base
as 6a but

Variants 6c -d are unique

ulterior of the base, while 66 is distinguished by a slightly miniature dishes of fine grey ware (the former from Pottery Group A',

8$ 8; pre-Arretme layers a homogeneous group in reason of their distinctive sharpened nm-fonn Similarly variants 8m-/> constitute
55

e Early Phase, and the latter from the Main Dram Phase of the Southern Sector), which ha\e similar profile show a pronouncedly concave base Variants 6f-/are thicker grey-ware dishes of fine-gramed fabric, and occur at all periods in the Northern Sector and in the Pro-structural and Early Phases of the Southern Sector Variant la Type 7, a dish with a rounded base, is distinguished by a clubbed and externall) grooved nm and more rounded profile is larger in size and has a deeper groove than the mam type, while 76 has a smaller The type is extremely rare and belongs to the post-Arrelme period, while its \anants come from the The arch-type is of coarse greyish buff ware, black inside and on outer rim, Drain Phase of the Southern Sector and greyish buff on the exterior of the base Variant la is of black-and-red ware of coarse fabric Variant 76 is of greyish buff ware of a fine-grained fabric with grey core and smoothed buff-slipped surface inside and out Type 8 is a dish distinguished by a sagger base and constitutes one of the most characteristic types of Arikamedu It is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arretine layers and red in the Some of the grey examples are post-Arretme period of the Northern and all periods of the Southern Sector salt-glazed (see below, p 93) Though it was primarily a dish, some pots of this type may also have been used The arch-type and all its variants save 8/-, 8y, 8/ and 80-z are found in abundance from the earliest as lids to the latest occupation of both Sectors Variants $a-e and the miniature variety 8 have a similar base to the Variants 8/and 8/ are peculiar to the Arretine layers of the Northern arch-type but differ from it in rim-form and arc confined to the Variants 8/1-1 form a class by themselves by Sector, while

nm

Mam

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

Fio 16

Types 8 (contmued)-9
56

ARIKAMEDV

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

PHI:

17*

ARIKAMEDU
the pronounced sag of their base Again, variants %q-u have a sharp carmation as their common characteristic, while SHKK, with roughly finished corrugated surface, belong to a separate sub-group which is characteristic of the later phases of the Southern Sector, though it starts in the post-Arrctme period of the Northern Some of

Thus 80 is found in the post-Arretme layers of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation in the Southern, while 8$- arc confined to the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector; 8* to Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of AK IV 8v and 8r to the Early Phase and Mam Dram Period of AK IV and 8jr, with an internally beaded rim, to the Late Phase of AK IV A remarkable feature of variant 8v is that it is usually found in black-and-red ware, while a unique specimen of this in a smaller size occurs in the lowest Arrctmc-producmg layer (AK II, 8 green) in polished black-and-grcy ware
the variants differ in their distribution
,

Type 9 is a simple bowl with a rounded base and constitutes one of the major types of Arikamedu It is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey (sometimes salt-glazed) in the pre-Arrctmc and Arretme layers, but is It normally red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and is always red in the Southern Sector Variants 9a~c, which are found throughout the occupation is invariably treated with slip both inside and out of both Sectors, slightly deviate from the arch-type in the form of the rim Variant 9a has a thick and nearly Variant 9d is a unique straight rim, while 9b has an internally thickened nm, and 9c a similar but sharper one bowl from the Mam Drain Phase of AK IV with grooves below the nm and a slightly concave base, while 9et from a pre-Arretine stratum (AK II, layer 13), resembles the arch-type in all respects save the base, which is Variants 9f-g arc thicker wares with roughly finished surface on which no markedly concave or omphaloid These are characteristic of all phases care has been taken to obliterate the corrugations produced by the wheel of the Southern Sector, though they also occur occasionally in the Northern Sector, particularly in the postVariants 9h-l, with pointed rims having a concave profile, form a group by themselves and, Arretine period in addition to the standard grey and red colours, occasionally occur also in black-and-grey (confined to the preall periods of the Northern Sector and from the Pre-structural to the Main Drain Phase in the Southern Sector, the deeper bowls 9j and 91 are confined to the pre-Arretine layers of the Variants 9m~o have taller sides, but, while 9m is peculiar to the pre-Arretine layers, 9n-o Northern Sector occur exclusively in the Arrctme layers of the Northern Sector Variant 9p is a unique little bowl from the Late Phase of AK IV, while 9r represents the tiny bowls which frequently occur throughout the occupation of Vanants 9q (coarse both Sectors, usually in coarse grey or red ware and occasionally in fine greyish pink ware grey ware) and 95 arc unique bowls from the post-Arrctme layers of the Northern Sector, while 9t-v having Of the latter, 9u is represented by only three rims with a slight inward projection form a distinctive sub-group examples of which two, with bluish slip, come from the pre-Arretine layers and one in black-and-grey ware from a post-Arrctmc layer of AK II, while 9t in black-and-grey ware and 9v in common red ware are unique and belong respectively to an Arretine and a post-Arretinc layer of the Northern Sector

Arretine layers) and black-and-red While 9h-i and 9A are found in

Type 10 represents a special form of cup or small bowl of grey, greyish pink or black-and-red ware of fine It has a flat base and tapering profile, and is fabric, usually with a black slip inside and pink outside ornamented on the interior of the sides with a row of stamped medallions between two bands of multiple incised
The medallions represent fish or grooves, with a further band of concentric grooves on the inside of the base This is one of the characteristic shapes of the site and is occasionally birds, including apparently the peacock The only piece without stamped decoration is 10A (from the found throughout the occupation of both Sectors
lowest Arretine layer of II), which is also the smallest example and too thin to bear the impact of the stamp

AK

may have been

left

unstamped as being

This is one of the principal types of the site 1 1 is a tall bowl with an incurved nm and a flat base It is of a coarse fabric and is found in fair abundance throughout the occupation of both Sectors generally grey (sometimes salt-glazed) in the pre-Arretine and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretme period The with slip both inside and out It is usually treated of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern The next in popularity is 1 \a which slightly arch-type is found in varying sizes of which the largest is illustrated The specimen illustrated bears a graffito inscription (see deviates from the mam type in the form of the nm pill) Variants lib and 1 \d (the latter also with a graffito) have sharply incurved rims and are very common Vanant He is a in the pre-Arretine layers, though they are occasionally found in all periods of both Sectors Variant lie from a unique specimen from a pre-Arretine stratum (AK V, 9N) in that it has a concave base a corrugated exterior, while 1 If from the pre-Arretine stratum (AK n, 14) is a small thick-walled bowl with Main Drain Phase of the Southern Sector is another small thick bowl with a slight concavity at the base The last variant, 1 Ig, with a flat-topped rim, is from an Arretine stratum (AK VIII, 5)

Type
is

and

59

ANCIENT INDIA, NO. 2

Type 12 is a bowl with a wide mouth and small flat base and is distinguished by a corrugated tapering body. This type occurs throughout the occupation of both Sectors, but is relatively rare in the Northern Sector. It is of a coarse fabric, usually devoid of slip, and is generally grey in the pre-Arrctme and Arretine layers and greyish Yanant \2a is an red in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern It is of a coarse extremely rare type characterized by an oblique-edged nm and slightly concave tapering sides grey or greyish buff fabric and occurs only in the pre- Arretine and Arretine layers of the Northern Sector. 13 is a grey-ware bowl of fine fabric with an externally beaded rim. This is an extremely rare type, Type the arch-type being represented by only three examples, all from the Southern Sector, and the variants by a One example of the arch-type comes from Pottery Group (Early Phase), the second single specimen each IV Both 13a and 136 the latter from a later layer of the Early Phase and the last from the Late Phase of a very small example are greyish pink wares of fine fabnc, from the Arretine horizon (AK VIII, 5 II, 8A) Variant 13c from a post- Arretine layer and \3d from a pre- Arretine stratum (AK II, 14) are deeper bowls of fine Variant 13* is a deep red-ware grey ware, the latter having a flat base and an inconspicuously beaded rim bowl from the Pre-structural Phase of the Southern Sector, while 13/ from a mixed group (AK VIII, pit 1) is also red ware but, unlike other examples of this type, has an internally beaded rim Type 14 is a shallow bowl with an everted run and is another rare type The arch-type is peculiar to the Arretine layers of the Northern Sector, while 14a and 146 are unique variants in fine grey ware, respectively from an Arretine stratum (AK II, 1 1C) and from Pottery Group (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector Type 15 is represented by a unique example It has a rounded base and convex run, and is of a light blackand-red ware. It comes from an Arretine stratum (AK II, 7 AT ) Type 16 is a bowl distinguished by a flaring run It is represented by only two examples, of which 16a is coarse black-and-red ware from an unstratificd deposit (AK I) of the Southern Sector, while 166 is of a greyish buff fabnc with polished black slip inside from the post-Arretme Phase of the Northern Sector. Type 17, a bowl with a flaring nm, is a rare type in polished black-and-grcy ware and is confined to the Variant \la is a unique specimen in fine grey ware from Pottery Group A Arretine layers of the Northern Sector The shape of the bases of these bowls is unknown (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector Type 18 represents a special class of fine grey or pinkish grey bowls of thin and well-burnt fabric It is It is noteworthy distinguished by a beaded nm, cannated waist and foot-ring, and has a grooved shoulder It is absent from the both for its rarity and for its careful potting pre-Arrctine layers of the Northern Sector the Arretine and post-Arretine layers of and from the Late Phase of the Southern, but occasionally occurs Variants 186 the Northern Sector and in the Pre-structural to the Late Drain Phase of the Southern Sector 18c are unique examples, the former being from a mixed group (AK VHI, pit 1) and the latter from the and unstratified French excavations, while 18</, which is nearly double the size, is peculiar to the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector Type 19 is a unique bowl combining the profile of Type 9 with the foot-nng of Type 18 It is of a thick coarse greyish red fabnc, and comes from the Main Drain Phase of the Southern Sector Type 20 is another rare type, representing a series of corrugated bowls which come exclusively from the The mam type is of thin black-and-red ware from the Pre-structural Phase, while variant 200 Southern Sector IV is a thicker greyish buff ware with an mturned from the Early Phase of The shape of the bases of

AK

AK

nm

AK

This is one of the minor characteristic It is of a coarse fabric types of the site and is occasionally found throughout the occupation of both Sectors and is generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretine layers and red both in the post-Arretine period of the Variants 2\a-b t in coarse greyish red ware, are thicker and Northern Sector and in all periods of the Southern (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector squatter than the arch-type and occur exclusively in Pottery Group The shape of the bases of these bowls is unknown Type 22 is a lamp It is characteristic of the site and occurs throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretine Variant 22a is of a larger and relatively leas period of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern Variant 22c, distinguished popular size , while 226 is a shallow red-ware lamp peculiar to the Late Drain Phase by a pinched soot-stained lip, is a rare variant, confined to the Late Phase of the Southern Sector. Variant* 22d and 22e are solitary examples respectively from the Main Drain Phase of the Southern Sector and an Arrctine layer (AK II, 7 AT ) of the Northern. Type 23 is a unique lamp with a flanged collar which is ornamented with slanting applied ridges and incised It is of coarse greyish black ware, and comes from a mixed strokes. group (AK VII, pit 2A) which yielded an
flattened

these bowls is unknown Type 21 is a tiny globular

bowl with a beaked and

rim

60

ARJKAMEDV

247=

>*(
,'

FIG 19

Type 24
61

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

24kk1
FIG. 20

Type 24 (continued)
62

AR1KAMEDU
Arretmc bowl stamped
pinched
lip for

CAMVR

It is

not sufficiently well preserved to indicate the presence or absence of a

holding the wick

Type 24, which is the most popular type of Arikamedu, served as a cooking vessel, as is evident from its It has a convenient carmated usually soot-stained exterior shape and a prominent flanged run which afforded an easy grip Like the majority of the local types this is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey (sometimes
pre-Arretme and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretine period of the Northern and in all It is usually treated with The arch-type is the periods of the Southern Sector slip on the exterior surface most abundant, though variants 24a-l and 24u are also found in fair profusion throughout the occupation of both
salt-glazed) in the

numerous variants of the type, 24a-u are carmated and 24v-z are uncannated, the remaining too fragmentary to show the presence or absence of carmation Of the carmated varieties, 24a-l deviate slightly from the parent type in the form of the rim, while the remainder differ also in other details Variants 24m-/>, which are appreciably smaller vessels, are very rare Thus, while 24n-o occur sporadically in the Arretme layers of the Northern Sector, 24/7 is a unique find from a Arretme layer (AK V, lla) and 24m (a diminutive of 24/) from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector preVariants 24o-t, distinguished by a series of ridges at the shoulder, just above the point of carmation, form a sub-class by themselves Of these 24q with a groove on the top of the nm occurs occasionally in all phases of the Southern Sector, while 24r-t are unique examples respectively from a post- Arretme layer of the Northern Variant 24u, Sector, Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern and from an Arretme layer (AK V, 8N) with d thick wall and a groove on the top of the nm, occurs frequently in all periods of both Sectors
Sectors
the
varieties being

Of

and

Of the uncannated varieties, viz 24v-z, the first and the last represent distinctive rim-forms , derived from pre-Arretme layers V, ION

unique specimens with an

(AK

and

AK

elliptical
is

body

II, 14)

Variant 24*

a large

pronouncedly bulging profile, also from the pre-Arretine level (AK II, 14), while varieties 24aa (from the same layer), 24 v (ornamented with a row of slanting incised strokes on the shoulder, from the Main Dram Phase of the Southern Sector) and 24ee (from the Arretme layer, AK II, 8A) exhibit a profile analogous Variant 24 v, which is peculiar to the with 24u, though they are fragmentary and have different rim-forms earliest layer of the Pre-structural Phase of the Southern Sector, is a red-ware vessel with a globular body, originally covered with a lid, Type 28/ Variant 24bb is a red-ware pot peculiar to Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector, but deviates very slightly from 24aa which is of a coarse grey fabric, from a pre-Arretme layer Variant 24cc is a thicker derivative of the same in coarse red ware and is a solitary specimen from a mixed group
vessel with a

(AK

24dd and 24hh are two other unique red-ware variants, peculiar to Pottery Group A (Early Phase) V, pit 1 ) of the Southern Sector Variants 24ff-gg on the other hand, are fairly common shapes and occur throughout the occupation of both Sectors Variant 24, however, is a unique red-ware vessel from the Early Phase of the Southern Sector, while 24jj in red ware and 24kk in grey ware are connned respectively to the Late Phase of the Southern Sector and the lowest Arretine layer (AK 11, 8 green) of the Northern Type 25 is a shallow carmated frying pan, its function usually being indicated by a charred exterior Like It is of a coarse fabric the cooking vessel (Type 24), this has a prominent flanged run to afford an easy grip and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arretine and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern
layers

from the arch-type, are occasionally Variants 25g and 25A,-/, distinguished by thick bodies with short rims, are peculiar to the pre-Arretine layers, while 25/t is confined to the Arretme and post-Arretme periods of the Northern Sector Variant 25/ is a solitary red-ware pan of thick gritty fabric from Pottery Group A with a double cannation is a unique specimen from the post(Early Phase) of the Southern Sector, while
Sector and
all Variants periods of the Southern found throughout the occupation of both Sectors

25<j-/, slightly deviating

variant from the Main Dram Phase of the Arretine period of the Northern Sector Similarly 25m is a solitary Handled frying pans are Southern Sector, and 25n from a pre-Arretine layer (AK V, ION) of the Northern fabric. extremely rare, with only four fragmentary examples, 25o-r, which differ from each other in shape and Variant 25o, of a coarse greyish red fabric from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector, has a horizontal loopVariant 25p of greyish red ware is variants have vertical handles of similar shape handle, while the

25;

remaining

from a mixed group (AK

and VIII, pit 1), while 25q~r are of coarse grey ware, the former with greyish pink slip the latter with chalky slip, respectively from the Arretine horizon (AK III, layer 6) and from near the surface of the handle a nail-like proof the Northern Sector It is noteworthy that 25p and 25r have on either flank
presumably a copy of a metal prototype occurs in grey ware of is a pan distinguished by a beaded rim This is a rare type and invariably It has two variants, 26a and 26ft, fine fabric It comes from the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector both from a mixed deposit

jection,

Type 26

63

ANCIENT INDIA, NO. 2

FIG 21.

Types 25-27. 64

29b
FIG. 22.

Types 28-31.
65

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

Type 27 is a unique pan with two flanges in coarse grey ware, from a pre-Arretinc layer (AK V, 9N) Type 28, with a pronounced flange at the waist and a sagger base, functioned as a lid for the cooking vessel Type 21, a variety of which, actually covered with a lid of this type (280, was found in one of the earliest prestructural layers of AK IV This is one of the principal types of the site and is present in fair quantity throughout the occupation of both Sectors The type is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey m the pre-Arrelinc and The Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretmc period of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern on this type is normally applied on the portion above the flange, the lower portion being left plain The slip arch-type is the most popular, though variants 2^a-d occasionally occur throughout the occupation of both The arch-type deviates but slightly from the variants, among which 28c-/and 28g- h form analogous Sectors Variants 28t% 28A and 28/arc peculiar respectively to the prc-Arrctmc, Arretme and post- Arretme periods pairs
of the Northern Sector, while 29g is a unique specimen from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector and 28/ from one of the earliest pre-structural layers of the same Sector Variants 28/-/C, the former from the posl-Arretine period of the Northern and the latter from the Late Dram Phase of the Southern Sector, are rare vaneties of
this type

rimless and in having a less prominent flange larger in size and has a different form of flange

another hd-type which shares the fabric and sagger base of Type 23 but differs from it in being Its arch-type partially resembles Type 28;, though it is much This type is absent from the prc-Arrctmc and Arretme phases of the Northern Sector, it occasionally occurs in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and at all Variants 29r-J and 29/ are peculiar to the postThis is also true of variants 29a~b periods of the Southern Arretme period of the Northern Sector, while 29? is a unique specimen from the Early Phase of the Southern

Type 29

is

It is of a fabric identical with that of Type 30 is a carmated lid-type, sometimes with a thickened rim It is fairly popular and, together with variants 3Qa-b and Types 28 and 29 and has an analogous base form

30, occurs in all periods of both Sectors Variant 306, also with a thickened rim but with a wider angle of The thickened nm carmation, is a unique variant from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector is absent from the remaining varieties, of which 30y, representing a small lid, is occasionally found throughout the occupation of both Sectors, while 30/, which is even smaller than 30y, is peculiar to the post-Arretmc period of the Northern Sector Variants 3Qc-d and 30e-/ form analogous pairs, the former having an unusually proOi these, variants 10J nounced sagger base and the latter a prominently concave profile above the cannation and 30farc peculiar to Pottery Group (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector, while 3Qc and We, the former of a coarse red fabric and the latter of coarse grey ware with chalky slip, are unique examples respectively from a post-Arretine layer and a mixed group (AK VIII, pit 1) of the Northern Sector

Like lid-types 28-30, it is Type 31 is a lid in the form of a deep cup with a rounded base and flanged rim of a coarse fabric and is generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretme layers and red in the post- Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern The arch-type and variant 3 la, which is closest to it, Variant 316, also with a prominent flanged occur in fair quantity throughout the occupation of both Sectors The remaining variants are all shallow with rim, is peculiar to the Late Dram Phase of the Southern Sector different rim-forms and are extremely rare Variant 3k with a short heavy flange is confined to the Prestructural Phase, while 3\d with a heavier flange is a unique example from the Late Dram Phase of the Southern Sector Variants 31e-/, the former distinguished by a thick clubbed rim and the latter by a nm showing both inward and outward projection, are solitary specimens belonging to the post-Arretine period of the Northern
Sector
It is is a lid in the form of a shallow dish with a rounded base and internally beaded nm usually grey fabric, though two specimens are known also in coarse greyish red ware from the Southern Sector It is a rare type but in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all phases of appears sporadically the Southern This is also true of variants 32a-6, while 32c, representing a small lid, is a unique example from a mixed group (AK III, pit 2)

Type 32
fine

of a

is a very rare type of lid with base similar to Type 32 and a thick rim showing an inward projection of a coarse greyish red fabric, though a solitary example of it is known also in fine grey ware from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector The main type and variant 33a occur sporadically in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern, while 336 is a unique variety of larger size from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector Type 34 is another lid-type in the form of a dish, distinguished by a sagger base and inverted nm It occurs It is of a coarse fabnc and is generally grey in the preoccasionally throughout the occupation of both Sectors Arretine and Arretme and red the post-Arretine penod of the Northern Sector and all penods of the Southern

Type 33

It is

66

AR1KAMEDU

FKJ 23.

Type 32-41
67

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
it is

treated with a slip on the interior face but never on the exterior Variants 34o-c, the first two Usually showing slight deviation from the arch-type and the last having a clubbed rim, are peculiar to the Arrctine layers of the Northern Sector, while 34J is a unique specimen from a pre-Arretinc stratum (AK II, 14)

Type 35
which are
Pottery

is

illustrated

Group

a lid distinguished by flanges at the run and the waist and represented by only two specimens, Both are of a gritty micaceous buff fabric, the former coming from (Types 35 and 35j) (Early Phase) and the latter from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector

Type 36 is a saucer-shaped lid with a sagger base and thick solid knob-handle in the middle This type is very rare and the few examples of it vary in regard to the shape of the knob and rim and are consequently all Variant 36o is a fragmentary coarse grey-ware lid from a pre-Arretme layer (AK V, ION), while illustrated 366, representing the only complete piece, is of a cruder grey fabric from the Arretme horizon (AK VIII, Variant 36c, from a mixed deposit (AK VIII, spoil trench 3), is a thick grey-ware lid with smooth layer 5) chalky slip on both faces and has a long fragmentary knob, while 36d is of a coarse greyish red fabric with haematite slip on both faces from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector Variant 36* is of greyish buff ware, knob missing, from an Arrctine layer (AK II, 10A)
It is of a fine Type 37 is another dish-shaped lid, characterized by a groove below the point of carmation (Early Phase) of the Southern grey fabric, and is represented by only two specimens, one from Potter) Group Sector and the other from a mixed group (AK VIII, pit 3)

Type 38 is a combined cup-and-saucer shaped hd with a rounded or sagger base, and is represented by four They arc of coarse fragmentary examples all of which have unique features and are illustrated as variants greyish red ware with red slip inside and, except 38i, come from the post- \rretme period of the Northern Sector Variant 38a is in the form of a thick large saucer with the central cup broken off, while 386 is a smaller lid with Variant 38r from an unstratified deposit a rounded base and preserves only the lower portion of the cup (AK I) of the Southern Sector shows a wide flaring rim and well-preserved shallow cup, while 3&/ is a thick rimless saucer with only the stump of the cup remaining deep
Like Type 38, it probably had a saucer-shaped Type 39 is a hd characterized by a hollow knob with a neck Variant 390 is of a coarse greyish body which is missing Only two fragmentary examples of it have survived red fabric with red slip on the upper face and comes from the post- Arrctine phase of the Northern Sector, while variant 396, from a mixed deposit (AK VIII, pit 1), is squatter in shape and of coarse grey ware with a chalky face slip on the upper

Type 40 is another lid-type with a hollow knob-handle, which, unlike Type 39, is conical in shape This occurs exclusively in the post-Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and is represented by three fragments of Variant 40a, the best-preserved, shows a complete knob and is of varying shapes which are all illustrated greyish buff fabric with chalky slip, while 406, of which only the lower half of the knob remains, is of coarse Variant 40c is a fragment of a coarse grey fabric with chalky slip greyish red ware with red slip
Type 41 is a carmated lid or dish with a sagger base and is distinguished by a thick body, beaded rim and It is of a coarse greyish red fabric, sometimes with a red slip on the outer face, and externally grooved neck Variant occasionally occurs in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern all This variant is peculiar 4la resembles the type respects save that the angle of the rim is oblique

mam

to the Southern Sector but occurs throughout the occupation of that Sector Type 42 is a small pot with a flaring run, narrow neck and globular body It probably functioned as a waterThis vessel, a similar shape both in pottery and metal being still used in many parts of India for this purpose

type

is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arretme layers and red in the postArretme period of the Northern Sector and at all periods of the Southern The main type and variants 426-c occur occasionally throughout the occupation of both Sectors Variant 42a, a solitary tiny model of the archtype, is of red-slipped coarse red ware and comes from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector Variants Variants 426-</ deviate from the arch-type in exhibiting a progressively increasing bulge at the belly 42d-e are peculiar to the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector, the former being of a coarse grey fabric with polished chalky slip and the latter of coarse greyish red ware with a slight rib at the shoulder and above the neck Variant 42/ represents a diminutive vase, of a shape approaching 42i, of chalky slipped thin coarse grey ware, from a mixed deposit (AK VIII, pit 3) Though fragmentary, vanant 42g appears to have a pearVariant 42g is of a coarse greyish shaped body with an unusually long neck, while 42/r shows a still longer neck red fabric with red slip and is a solitary example from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector. Vanant 42/t occasionally occurs throughout the occupation of the Northern Sector and is grey in the prcArretine and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretme Variants 42ty are rare, they are of a red-slipped

68

FlO. 24

Types 42-47.

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

coarse greyish red fabric from the post-Arretme phase of the Northern Sector, the former being distinguished Variant 42k is a unique little by a grooved shoulder and the latter by a short rim and a rib at the shoulder

pot of buff ware, from an Arretine layer (AK II, 8A) Type 43 is a larger water-vessel than Type 42, usually with a recurved or thickened rim, short neck and globular body, and is doubtless a ghafa (i e vessel for fetching and keeping water) as used down to modern This is one of the principal types of the site, occurring throughout the occupation times in many parts of India of both Sectors It is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey in the pre- Arretine and Arretine layers and red in Variants 430, 43d-/, 43A-/ the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern and 43* occasionally occur through all periods of both Sectors Variants 43-c have an exceptionally recurved or hooked nm, the former being of coarse grey ware from a pre- Arretine layer (AK V, 1 1 A) and the latter of coarse red ware from the Pre-structural Phase of the Southern Sector Variants 43g-/c are distinguished by an Of these, 43# in coarse grey ware is peculiar to a pre- Arretine layer (AK II, 14), while internally beaded rim 43; is a unique piece in black-slipped coarse grey ware, decorated on the neck with irregular rows of pm-pnck

ornament, from an Arretme layer (AK V, 8N) Type 44 is of black-slipped grey ware of fine fabric, and has a distinctive flaring high neck and everted nm The rarity of the type combined with its careful potting shows that it belonged to a superior class of vessel The The arch-type, which is figured from the best preserved specimen, has a series of fine grooves on the shoulder Its body of this type is either round or elliptical, probably the latter, but the shape of its base is not known While variants 440-c variants, which arc very fragmentary, deviate from the arch-type in the form of the rim occur sporadically throughout the occupation of both Sectors, variants 44d-t are peculiar respectively to the pre-Arretine and post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector, and 44/ to Pottery Group A (harly Phase) of the Southern Sector Type 45 is a fragmentary vessel of a ware identical with that of Type 44 It has a neck similar to that of Type 44 but with a distinctive knobbed rim This type is extremely rare, and together with variants 45a-b occurs sporadically throughout the occupation of both Sectors Type 46 is a neck-fragment of a jar with an everted nm It is of a thin greyish red fabric with red slip, and comes from the Pre-structural Phase of the Southern Sector Type 47 is represented by a solitary complete specimen from the French excavations (Northern Sector, approximately mean sea-level, equivalent to our Arretine levels) and is roughly assignable to the earlier half of the first century It is a coarse greyish red-ware pot of an ovoid shape, but smaller in size than Types 43-44, and has a distinctive grooved nm Type 48 represents a large storage jar with a wide mouth and flaring nm, but otherwise of an unknown shape This is one of the characteristic types of the site and occurs occasionally throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is of a coarse fabric and is usually grey in the prc-Arretme and Arretine layers and red in the postArretme period of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern It has invariably a slip on the outer face Its variants (48a-c) have the same fabric and distribution Type 49 is a rare jar-type with a wide neck and short flaring rim, akin to Type 48, which it also resembles in fabric It occurs sporadically in the Arretme and post-Arretme layers of the Northern Sector and through all phases of the Southern It invariably shows a slip on the outer face, and is generally grey in the Arretine

AD

layers

Its size is smaller and neck relatively flaring and thickened nm This type invariably occurs in coarse greyish red ware with a red slip narrower than that of Types 48-49 outside, and is confined to the pre- Arretine layers of the Northern Sector Type 51 is another rare type of jar distinguished by thin walls, a small nm and hardly any neck The complete shape of the type may be visualized from its two diminutive variants, 5\e-f, both of coarse grey ware with chalky slip from the Arretine layers (AK II, 7 AT and 8A) of the Northern Sector The main type with a rolled rim occurs exclusively in the Pre-structural Phase of the Southern Sector and is of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric, while variant 51a, with a sharp externally beaked run, shares the fabric with the main type and is a unique piece from the Late Dram Phase of the same Sector. Variants 5\b-d, like 5\e-f are chalkyshpped coarse grey wares, occurring exclusively in the Arretine layers of the Northern Sector Type 52 is a large jar with a wide flaring neck and externally clubbed rim The type is rare but occurs It is of a coarse fabric treated with slip outside, sporadically throughout the occupation of the Northern Sector and is generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretine, though exceptional red examples occur in the pre-Arretme and grey in the post-Arretme period Of the variants, 52fl is
t

and red elsewhere Type 50 is a very rare type of jar with a

70

48

1=
48 b
48c
50

48d

Fio 25.

Types 48-53
71

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

FIG 26

Types 54-59

72

AR1KAMEDU
characteristic of the Arretine layers with

an occasional overlap into the post-Arretme phase, while 526-*, the last A solitary specimen of variant 52c is showing a slightly recurved rim, are peculiar to the post-Arretme phase of coarse greyish black ware with black slip

Type 53 represents a small water-vessel, characterized by a spherical body, narrow neck and pronounced rim with an internal groove It is a rare type but occurs sporadically in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern The type is of a coarse greyish red fabric, usually treated with red and A freak variant of this type, 53e, is of a coarse greyish black ware with black sometimes with haematite slip Variant 5 la, which is closest to slip from the lowest Arretme layer of the Northern Sector (AK II, 8 green) the mam type, is peculiar to the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector, while 53b and 53d are confined to the Pre-structural and Early Phase of the Southern Sector Variants 53t and 53/ are neckrespectively fragments of larger jars, the former coming from a mixed group (AK VIII, pit 1) and the latter from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector
a medium-sized jar with a narrow neck and thick out-turned rim The shape of its lower part is This type is occasionally present throughout the occupation of both Sectors It js of a coarse fabric, usually treated with slip outside, and is generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern, though red examples occur Variants of this type arc rare Variant exceptionally in the prc- Arretme layers and grey in the post-Arretine 54a, of a chalky-slipped coarse grey fabric, is peculiar to the post-Arrctmc phase of the Northern Sector, while Variant 54/j, of red-slipped coarse greyish red ware, is a unique piece from a prc- Arretme layer (AK II, 14) 54r is of red-slipped coarse red ware and comes from the Pre- structural Phase of the Southern Sector

Type 54

is

not

known

a rare jar with a high neck and flaring rim, occurring sporadically throughout the occupation It is of a coarse fabric treated with slip outside, and is generally grey in the prc-Arretine and and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Arretine layers The of this type below the shoulder is unknown shape ^6 is the upper part of a fairly large jar distinguished by an undercut rim and a series of grooves on Type the shoulder It is a type confined to the post- Arretme phase of the Northern Sector and is m\ anably of a coarse Variant 56a, of coarse gre)ish buff fabric with greyish red fabric with polished red slip (often of haematite) pale red slip, is dewed from an Arretine layer (AK II, 7 AT TV pe 57 is the upper portion of a large jar with obliquely flanged rim, wide neck and ledged shoulder This is a very rare t)pe, represented b) a few examples of light red or chalk) -slipped coarse grey fabric, from the Variant 57d, represented by a solitary specimen from Arretine and post-Arrctine phases ot the Northern Sector the Late Dram Phase of the Southern Sector, is of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric and shows a sharper nick at the shoulder than the main type Type 58 is a jar of thin ware, with a flaring rim and ledged shoulder This is another rare type, occurring It is generallj grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretine sporadically throughout the occupation of both Sectors Variant 580, layers and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all periods of the Southern of a thin micaceous buif fabric and with a more flaring rim than the arch-type, is peculiar to the \rretine layer* of the Northern Sector, while variants 58/>-f, with more splayed rims and sharper shoulder-ledges, arc of a hnc A Variant 58J, light red fabric and occur in the Earl) Phase of the Southern Sector, including Potter) Group from the Late Phase of the same Sector, shares the shape of 586-c but is of a thicker and coarser gre)ish red

Type 55

is

of both Sectors

fabric with red slip

Type 59 represents one of the largest and most characteristic storage-vessels of the site, with a wide flaring It is present in fair quantit) throughout the mouth, thickened rim and one or more ridges on the shoulder It is of a thick coarse fabric, treated with slip outside, and is generall) grev in the occupation of both Sectors Sector and all periods of prc- Arretme and Arretine layers and red in the post- \rretine period of the Northern Variant 59/> vv ith a thicker the Southern This is also true of variants 59a and 59c-/, which occur everywhere and blunter rim is of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric and is peculiar to Potter) Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector The shape of the base of this type is unknown Type 60 is a large storage-jar with wide mouth, sharply everted rim, short neck and multi-ridged shoulder This is one of the characteristic types of the site and occurs in fair quantity throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is of a thick coarse fabric, treated with slip outside, and is generally grey in the pre- \rretme and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variants (fia-b share the range of fabric and distribution of the arch-type, while variant 60c, of a red-slipped The specimen coarse greyish red fabric, is peculiar to Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector
73

FIG 27.

Types 60-68.

74

ARIKAMEDU

FIG 28

Types 69-73.
75

ANC1LNJ INDIA, NO
606 has an individual feature in bearing a illustrating variant
of the neck

row of oblique

slashes as decoration

on the

inside

Type 61 is a jar of a size smaller than Type 60, with a wide mouth, clubbed rim and hardly any neck This type occurs occasionally in the Arretme and post-Arretine phases of the Northern Sector and throughout the It is of a thick coarse fabric, usually treated with slip outside, and is occupation of the Southern generally
Variants 6\a-b share the range of fabric grey in the Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and red elsewhere and distribution of the mam type, while variants 6lc-d are of a coarse greyish red fabric The former, with red slip outside and a secondary perforation on the shoulder, is a unique piece from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector, while the latter is a solitary variant from Pottery Group (Early Phase) of the same Sector

Type 62

is

a fragmentary jar with a funnel-shaped neck

It is occurs sporadically throughout its occupation 62a-c have the same fabric and distribution as the arch-type, from which they slightly deviate in the form of the rim Type 63 is a very rare jar-type with a fairly long straight neck and hardly any rim at all This type, if such Variant 63a it can be called, is represented by only three examples, of variant shapes which are all illustrated is of chalky-slipped coarse grey ware with a row of roughly incised impressions on the exterior of the lip, from Variant 636 has ridges on the neck and is of coarse an Arretine layer of the Northern Sector (AK V, 8N) Variant 63c is distinguished by greyish red fabric with pink slip outside from a pre- Arretine layer (Ak II, 13) a groove below the neck and a ridge on the shoulder, and is of gritty greyish red fabric, from the Mam Drain Phase of the Southern Sector. Type 64 is the neck-fragment of a small jar with a rolled rim It is invariably of a fine grey fabric, usually treated with black slip and is confined to the Southern Sector, where it occurs through all phases except the

This is a type confined to the Southern Sector and of a coarse greyish red fabric, treated with red slip Variants

latest

Type 65 is a jar with an incurved rim This type is peculiar to the Southern Sector and is occasionally present It is invariably of a coarse greyish red fabric treated with red or haematite throughout its occupation slip Variant 65a, which is larger in size but of similar ware and provenance, occurs less frequently 66 is the neck-fragment of a large vessel with an inward thickening of the rim It is of a coarse greyish Type buff fabric, treated with red slip, and comes from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector It is of a coarse Type 67 is the upper pan of a jar with a sharplv everted and slightly concave rim greyish buff fabric and is represented by only two examples, of which one is from Pottery Group A (harly Phase) of the Southern Sector and the other from the unstratified French exca\ations Type 68 is an extremely rare jar-type with a wide mouth and out-turned rim, occurring sporadically It is throughout the occupation of the Northern Sector invariably of a thick coarse grey fabric treated with Variant 68a shares the ware and provenance of the arch-type, from which it deviates chalky slip outside
slightly in

shape
is

a fairly large jar distinguished by a grooved or flanged rim It is one of the minor types, confined and post-Arretine phases of the Northern Sector The type is of a thick coarse fabric and is Its shape below the shoulder is unknown generally grey in the Arretine and red in the post-Arretine phase Variant 69a has an analogous shape but is smaller in size, it is peculiar to the post-Arretine phase Variant 696, of a chalky-slipped coarse grey fabric, comes from an Arretine layer (AK II, 7 Ar ) All other variants are of red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric and, save for 69c/ (from the Early Phase of the Southern Sector), belong

Type 69

to the Arretine

Unlike the type and other variants, 69c and 69e are ornamented, the former with to the post-Arretine period a row of applied cable and the latter with incised slanting strokes It is of a shape similar lo Type 70 is a very rare jar with a wide neck and thickened rim type 52 but is thicker and larger size This type is of a coarse fabric, treated with slip outside, and is generally grey in the pre- Arretine and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretine phase of the Northern Sector and all periods The same is applicable to variant lOa of the Southern

Type 71 is again a rare jar characterized by a thick rolled rim This type occasionally occurs in the Arretine and post-Arretine phases of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation in the Southern It is of a thick coarse fabric, usually treated with slip outside, and is generally grey in the Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and red elsewhere Variant 7 la, of a gritty grey fabric, is peculiar to the pre-Arretme horizon
of the Northern Sector, while variants 716-r, of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric, arc confined to the postArretine and Arretine phase respectively of the same Sector The last variant, 71</, is a derivative of the type in gritty greyish red ware and comes from Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector

76

A RIKA ME DU
Type 72 represents a jar distinguished by a thick voluled nm It is one of the minor types, It is of a coarse fabric, occurring occasionally throughout the occupation of both Sectors usually treated with slip outside, and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variants 72o, lie and 12f share the ware and distribution of the main type, while 726 occurs in chalky-slipped coarse grey or greyish buff wart and is peculiar to the Arretme and post-Arretme periods of the Northern Sector Of the remaining variants, lid is of a coarse grey fabric from a prc-Arretme layer (AK V, 9N), while 72/, of a coarse greyish red wart, is confined to an Arretme layer (AK II, 8 green) Type 73 is a jar with a narrow high neck and thickened nm, resembling Type 53c It is a rare type but occurs sporadically in the Arrctme and post-Arretine phases of the Northern Scctcr and throughout the occupaIt is of a thick coarse fabric, treated with tion of the Southern slip outside, and is generally grey in the Arretme of the Northern Sector and red elsewhere Variants 13a-b have shorter and broader necks than the archlayers
type, the former being of a gritty micaceous greyish red fabric from the post-Arreime phase of the Northern Variant Sector, and the latter of haematite-slipped coarse greyish red ware from a mixed deposit (AK VIII, pit 1) 73c is represented by a solitary example of a coarse grey fabric with chalky slip from the lowest Arrctmc layer

Like most of the jar-types, Us shape below the shoulder is unknown II, 8 green) Types 74-75, both fragmentary, appear to be the upper and lower part respectively of the same type, but, until this is proved by the recover) of a complete section, it is better to regard them as different types Type 74 The represents the head of a large vessel distinguished by a narrow aperture and thick lip with an inward slope largest fragment, which is 7J- inches deep, shows a tendency to taper downwards Type 75, on the other hand, is the lower part of a tall conical vessel tapering down to a point at the base which was obviously meant to be buried in the ground indeed, many were found so buried (pi XXXIHA) The largest fragment of the latter is 29 inches from point to break 74 and 75 are both characteristic shapes of the site and occur in fair profusion throughout the occupaTypes tion ol both Sectors They are identical in ware, being of a thick coarse labnc v\hich is generally grey in the Type 75 has no slip at pre-Arrctme layejs of the Northern Sector and greyish red with grey core eUewhere While all, while Type 74 occasionally has a slip which is invariably confined to the portion above the shoulder Type 74 is completely wheel-turned, a remarkable feature of Type 75 is that it is hand-made up to a certain height Put together, the two types would constitute a tall conical from the base, above whieh it is wheel-turned vessel, upwards of 35 inches high, which presumably functioned as a container of wine or oil like the imported It may be noted that a group of eight jars of this type, some amphorae, to which it bears a partial affinity lilted into the broken remains of others, were found within an area of four square feet in a deep level ol AK I of the Southern Sector Variants 14a-d arc as common and widely distributed as the mam type from which they deviate very Variant 74t', with an unusually pronounced beak, is confined to Pottery Group A slightly in the form of the lip (Early Phase) of ihe Southern Sector, while 74/*, characterized by a multi-facetted lip, and 74g-// by drooping arc peculiar to the pre-Arretme layers of the Northern Sector Variants 74*-/ show relatively wider mouths, lips, Of these, 74; is peculiar to the pie-Arretme and and all save the last arc distinguished by thick clubbed lips Variant 14m is a diminutive of thiu type and occurs 74/-/ to the post-Arrctmc phase of the Northern Sector fairly frequently throughout the occupation of both Sectors

(AK

Variants 15a-b, distinguished Variants of Type 75 may be distinguished by a slight diversity of base-forms by solid and more pointed base-forms, are peculiar to the Main Drain Phase of the Southern Sector, while 75r is a unique variant with a flat base from an unst ratified deposit of the Southern Sector (AK I) Type 76 is the largest storage-jar of Ankamedu, with a thick out-turned rim It occasionally occurs Its fabric is thick and coarse, treated with slip outside, and is throughout the occupation of both Sectors generally grey in the pre-Arrctmc and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector Variant 76o, distinguished by ridges on the shoulder and a slightly different and all phases of the Southern rim-form, shares the range of fabric and distribution of the arch-type Type 77 is a somewhat smaller jar than Type 76 and is distinguished by an out-turned rim and more It is confined to the Southern Sector and occurs occasionally throughout us occupation drooping profile It is invariably of a thick coarse greyish red fabric, which is rarely treated with slip Type 78 is a large jar-type characterized by thick ware and a heavy roll rim It occasionally occurs in the post-Arretmc phase of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation of the Southern of a coarse greyish red fabric with grey core, and is treated with red slip on the exterior

s^ -

FIG 29.

Types 74-75
78

79

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

It is of gritty greyish red fabric and comes from Type 79 is a unique jar-fragment with thick flaring rim a mixed deposit (AK VIII, pit 1) Type 80 is very rare, it is a large jar with high neck and internally hollowed run It is of a thick light-red Variant 800, which combines fabric, and occurs exclusively in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector in its nm an external beak with an internal roll, is relatively more abundant than the arch-type but is represented

only by minute fragments, it occurs occasionally in the post-Arretme period of the Northern and all phases It is invariably of a micaceous gritty greyish buff ware of the Southern Sector Type 81 is a large jar with a high neck analogous with Type 80 but shows a different rim-form It is of the Northern represented by a solitary specimen of thick gritty grey ware from the post-Arretine phase
Sector
It occurs occasionally throughout the Type 82 probably represents a large basin with a clubbed rim It is generally grey in the preoccupation of both Sectors, and is of a thick coarse fabric treated with slip Ar re tine and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Type 83 apparently represents a somewhat similar vessel but is characterized by a raised ornamented band
faitIt is of a thick coarse quantity throughout the occupation of both Sectors generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arrctine layers and red in the post-Arretme Variants 830-6 share the range of fabric and period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Like the arch-type, the variants also distribution of the main type, from which they slightly de\ late in shape

below a heavy

nm

It

occurs in

fabric treated with slip,

and

is

The normal bear a band of decoration, which was either incised or impressed on an applied band of clay patterns are close cross-hatching as on the type, large cross-hatching as on 836 and finger-tip ornament as on 830

mam

Type 84 is a large basin with a clubbed nm and corrugated body This is one of the principal basin-types and occurs throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is of a thick coarse fabric, usually treated with slip on both faces, and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variant 840, with sides tending to taper downward, is of a coarse grey fabric and occurs exclusively in the Arretine layers of the Northern Sector Variant 846, which has an almost straight side, shares the fabric of the arch-type and is occasionally found in all periods of The specimen illustrated has an individual feature in the band of slashed ornament below the nm both Sectors Type 85 is a large shallow basin marked by an inconspicuous nm This type is confined to the Southern Sector and occurs sporadically throughout its occupation It is invariably of a coarse greyish red fabric treated with red slip on both sides Variants 850-6 are exceptional in having handles, the former a loop-handle flanked While 850 is a fairby nail-like projections possibly copied from a metal prototype, the latter a lug-handle sized basin of coarse greyish buff ware from the pre-Arrctme phase, 856 is a small basin of a coarse greyish red fabric from a mixed group of the Southern Sector Like Type 85, it occurs exclusively in the Southern Sector and is of Type 86 is a basin with a flaring nm a coarse greyish red fabric treated with red slip on both faces Variant 860 is a black-and-red ware basin from
Phase of the Southern Sector, while 866 shares the fabric with the arch-type but has a slip only and is peculiar to the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector Type 87 is a basin distinguished by a simple incurved rim This is a rare type, occurring sporadically It is of a coarse fabric and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme throughout the occupation of both Sectors and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variant 870, with an internally expanded nm, is a unique example in red-slipped coarse greyish red ware from the Pre structural Phase of the Southern Sector This type, together with variant 880, Type 88 is a normal type of basin, characterized by a clubbed rim occurs m fair quantity throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is of a coarse fabric, usually treated with inside, and is generally grey in the pre-Arretme and Arretine layers and red in the post-Arretinc period of slip the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variant 886, with a heavy bead-nm, is confined to the postArretmc period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern and is invariably of a coarse greyish red ware The specimen illustrated bears a large perforation
the Late

Dram

on the

interior face

Type 89 is a unique basin with a pronounced rim and angular shoulder. It is of a coarse greyish buff fabric with polished chalky slip on both faces, and comes from the post-Arretine phase of the Northern Sector Type 90 is a rare type of bowl, invariably of coarse greyish red ware. It is peculiar to the Main Drain Phase of the Southern Sector
80

r
876.

87

88

r
84b
88b

92d

92b

89

92c
FIG 31

T
Types 84-92.
81

82

ARIKAMEDV
Type 91 is a bowl distinguished by an internally hollowed thick rim It is characteristic of the Southern Sector and occasionally occurs throughout its occupation It is invariably of a coarse greyish red fabric, with red slip inside Variant 91a shares the fabric and provenance of the arch-type, from which it slightly deviates
in

shape

Type 92

is

a bowl with a thickened or rolled run

It

occurs

m fair quantity in

the post-Arretme phase of

and throughout the occupation of the Southern It is normally of a red-slipped coarse Variant 92a shows a cavity in section where the rim has been rolled, it is from the Pregreyish red fabric Variants 92b-c share the fabric and provenance of the arch-type, from structural Phase of the Southern Sector which they slightly deviate in rim-form Type 93 is the commonest shape of basin and is distinguished by a flanged run like that of Type 21, wide mouth and rounded base It is one of the characteristic shapes of Ankamedu and is found in profusion
the Northern Sector

throughout the occupation of both Sectors

and out, and

93d
is

The type is of a coarse fabric, usually treated with slip both inside the post-Arretine period of the generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretine layers and red Variant Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variants 93a-c show very slight deviations shape
is

of a coarse reddish fabric and is a unique piece from the post-Arretme phase of the Northern Sector it Variant 93/with a thickened has a cannated shoulder, and is treated with pinkish chalky slip on both sides Variants 93e rim and 93g-y with curved rims occasionally occur throughout the occupation of both Sectors and 93w, both of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric, are unique examples respectively from Pottery Group A The former has a grooved rim, while the (Larly Phase) and the Pre-Structural Phase of the Southern Sector Variants 93k-l, of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric, have latter shows a rim resembling a golf-club distinctive hammer rims, the former being peculiar to the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and the latter to the Late Drain Phase of the Southern Type 94 is a large cannated basin with a distinctive grooved rim and ridges on the shoulder It is of a coarse reddish grey fabric with a chalky wash, and occurs exclusively in the post-Arrctme phase of the Northern Sector Type 95 is a large bowl with a thickened rim, almost straight side and sagger base It occurs occasionally throughout the occupation of the Southern Sector and is invariably of a coarse greyish red fabric with red slip inside and out Its fabric and distribution are identical Type 96 represents a similar bowl but with a pronounced flat rim with those of Type 95 It is one of the Type 97 is a bowl distinguished by a bulbous profile and pronounced bead-rim It is of a coarse characteristic types of the site and occurs throughout the occupation of both Sectors fabric, treated with slip oubidc, and is generally grey in the pre-Arrctine and Arretine layers and red in Variants 91a~d slightly deviate the post- Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Irom the arch-type m shape, while 97e has the same profile as the arch-type but shows a clubbed rim and is confined to the Southern Sector through all phases of its occupation Type 98 is a larger bowl than Types 95-97 and is characterized by a thick out-turned nm and multi-ridged It is rare but occurs sporadically in the Arretine and post-Arreune phases of the Northern Sector protilc Variant 980 has a more emphatic It is invariably of a coarse greyish red fabric with red slip on both faces nm and is peculiar to the post-Arretme period the occupaIt is a rare Type 99 is a large bowl with an oblique rim type but occurs sporadically throughout the pre-Arretine It is of a coarse fabric, treated with tion ot both Sectors slip outside, and is generally grey and Arretine layers and red the post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variant 99a has a slightly more everted nm the Arretine layers of Type 100, with a concave upper profile and grooved shoulder, occurs exclusively the Northern Sector and is invariably of a coarse grey fabric with polished brownish chalky slip inside and out
,

It is the principal a bowl characterized by an everted nm and a rounded profile and base It is of a coarse fabric, treated with a is found throughout the occupation of both Sectors red in the post-Arretme period of slip outside, and is generally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretine layers and the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Type 102 is the upper part of a small bowl with a flaring nm and straight side This is a rare type, occurring sporadically throughout the occupation of both Sectors, and is invariably of a fine grey fabric with black slip It is a rare type, occurring sporadically in the Type 103 is a bowl with a thickened and out-turned rim It is Arretinc and post- Arretine phases of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation of Southern of a coarse fabric, treated with slip both inside and out, and is generally grey in the Arretine phase and red

Type

101

is

type of bowl and

83

ANCIENT INDIA, NO 2

94

103 b
FIG 33
Types 94-103

94

FIG 34

Types 104-121
85

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

elsewhere
It

also occurs in black ware or black-and-rcd

ware

(i

e black inside and red outside) due obviously

to differential firing Type 104 is a large bowl with a hammer-headed rim It is one of the principal bowl-types and It is of a coarse fabric, treated with slip, and is occurs throughout the occupation of both Sectors generally grey in the pre-ArreUne and Arretme layers and red in the post-Arrctme period of the Northern Sector and all

Variant 1040 has a more bulbous profile phases of the Southern Type 105 is a rare type of bowl with a heavy rim It is of red-slipped coarse greyish red ware and comes from the Early Phase of the Southern Sector, including Pottery Group

also a rare type, occurring sporadically throughout the occupation of both Sectors Its fabric and range of distribution are similar to those of Type 104 Type 107 is a bowl with an out-turned flattened rim and angular shoulder It is a rare type, confined to the

Type 106

is

post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector, and is of a coarse greyish red fabric Type 108 is distinguished by a multi-ridged shoulder and is represented only by the two specimens, here illustrated Its fabric and provenance are similar to those of Type 107
It is of a coarse Type 109 is a shouldered bowl with a high rim greyish red fabric and comes from a mixed (AK VIU, pit 1) Variant 109a with an angular grooved body is unique it is of a coarse grey fabric with A tiny variant of I09a, of a coarse greyish red chalky slip on both faces, and comes from the same mixed deposit fabric, comes from an unstratified deposit (AK I) of the Southern Sector Type 110 is a bowl with a prominent flanged shoulder It is represented by two specimens from the

deposit

post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector Type 1 1 1 is the upper part of a small vessel with a beaded nm The type is invariably of a coarse greyish red fabric and occurs occasionally in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and relatively more The shape of the lower part of the type is frequently in the Southern Sector throughout its occupation unknown, though the extant fragments bear partial resemblance to Types 74 and 112-13

Type 1 12 is a tiny vessel of flat globular shape with a narrow mouth and beaded rim, somewhat analogous with Type 111, and of a coarse greyish red fabric It is a rare type, but occurs sporadically in all phases of the Southern Sector

Type 113, the upper part of a small globular vessel, is another rare type, occurring sporadically in the postIt is of a coarse fabric, treated with Arretme period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern slip outside, and is either greyish red or grey in the Northern Sector and greyish red elsewhere Type 114, a small vessel with an oblique rim, is also an extremely rare type, represented by four varying Variant 1 14a comes from the Late Phase examples of a coarse grey or greyish red fabric, which are all illustrated of the Southern Sector, while variant 114/, of larger size, and 114c, with a more pronounced nm, belong to the Variant 114J has an angular profile, a flattened nm and grooved post-Arretme period of the Northern Sector shoulder It comes from an unstratified deposit of the Southern Sector Type 1 15 is a jar with a blunt rim and ridged shoulder It is of coarse greyish red ware with red slip, and comes from an unstratified deposit of the Southern Sector Type 116 represents a bowl of coarse greyish red ware, occasionally found in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation of the Southern Type 17 is the upper part of a bowl with a rim rebated for receiving lid Only two examples of this type are known, both made of a fine-grained pink fabric with red slip outside Variant 1 1 la is a large bowl with grey interior from a mixed deposit (AK VII, pit 2A), while 1176 is a small brittle bowl from the post-Arretine phase of the Northern Sector Type 1 8 is the upper part of a fairly large perforated vessel with an open mouth, bluntly beaked rim and This type occurs sporadically throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is of probably pear-shaped body a coarse fabric and is generally greyish red in colour but is occasionally grey in the pre-Arretine and Arretine of the Northern Sector is difficult to Variants 118a-e illustrate the range of type It layers say what the function of these vessels was That they were not heaters is clear from the absence of soot-stain on their exterior It is likely that they were used as colanders or strainers Type 19 represents other perforated vessels, of which 1 19a is of chalky-slipped greyish buff ware resembling Variant 1 \9b comes from the Arretme Type 24, and 1 9b is of chalky-slipped grey ware resembling Type 101 horizon (AK VIII, 5) of the Northern Sector Type 120 is a perforated vessel bearing partial affinity in shape to lid-types 34-35 It is represented by only two fragmentary examples, of which 120a is of a greyish buff fabric with pinkish chalky slip from the
1
1

86

AR1KAMEDV
unstratified

French excavations, and 1206 Northern Sector (AK V, 1 1 A)

is

black-slipped coarse grey ware from a pre-Arretme layer of the

Type 121 is a unique haematite-slipped greyish red-ware bowl resembling Type 8fc, with large triangular and comes from the Late Drain Phase of the Southern Sector perforations in the base, Type 122 is the upper part of a large jar decorated on the shoulder with two bands of alternating nicked It is of a coarse red fabric with a distinctive and finger-tip pattern polished bright red slip outside and comes I in the Southern Sector from the disturbed area of Variant \12a is of smaller size but has the same

AK

Similar ware distinguishes a fairly large class of vessels (comprising Types 123-34) characterized provenance also by grooved rims Type 123 is the upper part of a unique ornamented ghafa (water- vessel) with an externally grooved rim It bears on the shoulder a band of stamped concentric circles and another of incised Its ware oblique strokes and provenance are similar to those of Type 122 124 is the upper part of a jar with a distinctive internally grooved and flanged rim It is of a coarse Type It is a greyish red fabric which is usually treated with bright red slip but in one case with yellowish red slip rare type, confined to the Late Drain and Late Phases of the Southern Sector Variant 1240 is represented by a solitary specimen from the post-Arrctine phase of the Northern Sector Type 125 is the upper part of a large jar with a run having one external and many internal grooves, which It is of a coarse also occur on the exterior of the shoulder greyish red fabric, treated with red slip outside, and is represented by only two examples, of which one is unstratified, and the other comes from the Late Phase of the Southern Sector Type 126 is a pot with an angular profile and an externally grooved nm, represented by only two examples, It is of a coarse greyish red fabric one unstratified and the other from the Early Phase of the Southern Sector

From their soot-stained exterior it is evident that these vessels functioned as painted with red slip outside Variant 1260 with a thicker than that of the arch-type is a solitary fragment from the postcooking-vessels Arretine phase of the Northern Sector

nm

Type 127 is a cannated vessel with a grooved rim It is of a fabric identical with that of Type 126 It occurs sporadically in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and all phases of the Southern Variant 1270, with a sharper cannation, comes from an unstratified deposit, while 1276 is represented by only two examples, one from a mixed deposit of the Northern Sector (AK II, pit 3) and the other from the Late
Phase of the Southern

Type 128

is

internal grooves

the neck-fragment of a unique vessel with a broad having one external and numerous It is too fragmentary to show the shape of the body It is of a coarse red fabric with

nm

I in the Southern Sector burnished bright red slip and comes from the disturbed area of Type 129 represents the fragmentary narrow neck of a jar with an externally grooved nm It is a unique specimen from the Pre-structural Phase of the Southern Sector and is of a red-slipped coarse greyish red ware

AK

Type 130 is the fragmentary narrow neck of a jar with a rim having an internal and external groove It is of a coarse greyish red fabric treated with red slip and occurs sporadically in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and in unstratified deposits of the Southern Type 131 is a fragment of a unique jar with a grooved rim It is of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric and comes from the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector Type 1 32 represents the upper part of a unique bowl having an externally grooved nm It is of a red-slipped coarse greyish red fabric and comes from the Early Phase of the Southern Sector Type 133 is the nm fragment of a jar showing an external groove It is a unique piece, of light red ware, and comes from the Late Drain Phase of the Southern Sector Type 134 is the upper part of a jar with an externally grooved run From the fragmentary tapering profile It is of a coarse it appears to have had a base resembling Type 138, but this possibility cannot be stressed greyish-red fabric with haematite slip, and comes from the post-Arretine phase of the Northern Sector Type 135 is the upper part of a jar with a profile similar to that of Type 134 but with a grooveless rim Its It is of shape is analogous with that of Type 118 which, however, belongs to the perforated class of vessels coarse greyish red ware with haematite slip, and occurs rarely in the post-Arretine period of the Northern The specimen illustrated has an individual feature in bearing an incised zigzag ornament Sector Type 136 is the upper part of a basin decorated with two rows of incised zigzag below its thick hammerof the Southern It is a unique piece, m coarse head run greyish red ware, and comes from the Late Phase
Sector

87

FIG 35
88

ARIKAMEDV
Type 137 is a fragment probably of a basin It is of a gritty greyish red ware, and occurs rarely in the ft invariably bears a row of applied Late Phase of the Southern Sector finger-tip ornament just above the base Type 138 is the lower portion of a vessel possibly of Type 134 Like Type 137, it is of a gritty greyish red It is a rare the Late ware and always has a band of applied finger-tip ornament type, occurring sporadically Drain and Late Phases of the Southern Sector vessel with a basket- impressed base With a soot-stained exterior Type 139 represented unique cannatcd It is of red-slipped thin light red ware and comes from Pottery Croup A it was evidently a cooking vessel of the Southern Sector (Early Phase) Type 140 represents the upper part of a small bottle-necked vessel It is a very rare type, confined to the It is of a coarse fabric and occurs both in grey and pre-Arretine and Arrctine layers of the Northern Sector The actual red wares, the former being covered with bluish chalky slip and the latter with haematite slip bottle-neck is represented by \4Qa-b, the former coming from the pre-Arreline and the latter from the Arretine

phase

141

&

I4lb
FIG 36

T}pe 141

Type 141 is a rare type of dish with a flaring rim and a foot-nng, and is ornamented on the interior face with a row of nicks at the rim and a stamped floral pattern on the base It is of a fine grey fabric and occurs sporadically in the Arretine and post-Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation of the Southern Variant 1410 comes from the Arrelmc layers, while 1416 is peculiar to the post-Arretme phase of the Northern Sector Jt is invariably 142 represents the hollow pedestal base of a pot, the full shape of which is unknown Type of coarse greyish red ware and occurs occasionally in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and The specimen illustrated has an individual feature in a row of throughout the occupation of the Southern slashed decoration both on the exterior and the interior and comes from Pottery Group (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector Variants \42a-b come from the post-Arretine phase of the Northern Sector, while 142c comes from a disturbed deposit of the Southern It is of a thick coarse fabric, Type 143 apparently represents the bluntly pointed base of a large storage jar and occurs occasionally throughout the occupation of both Sectors It is generally grey in the pre-Arretine

89

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

and red elsewhere

Variant 143d is confined to the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector, while layers \43b~c are peculiar to the Southern Sector and occur occasionally through all its phases Variant 1434 is a unique specimen of a coarse grey fabric from the pre-Arretme phase of the Northern Sector

FIG

17

T\pes 142-144
It

is

Type 144 represents the upper part of a unique vessel with a prominent flange below an incurved nm of a coarse greyish buff fabric and comes from a mixed deposit of the Northern Sector (AK. VIH, pit I)

FRONT ELEVATION

SIDE

ELEVATION
Types 145-148.

PLAN

FIG 38

90

ARIKAMEDU
It is hand-made, of a thick coarse fabric represents the top apparently of a large storage-jar generally grey in colour in the pre-Arrctme and Arretine layers of the Northern Sector and greyish It bears an applied band of finger-Up ornament red elsewhere The type occurs throughout the occupation In one instance the upper part of a vessel of this type was used as the top ring of a 'ring-well' of both Sectors or soak-pit Type 146 is a fragment probably of a fimal, with numerous flange* It is of a coarse fabric, generally the pre-Arretine and Arrctmc layers of the Northern Sector and red elsewhere The majority of its grey

Type 145
is

which

examples arc made of two sections which are subsequently luted together, while a few (variant 146o) are potted It occurs occasionally throughout the in a single operation occupation of both Sectors Type 147 is a cylindrical pipe of uncertain use It is of coarse greyish buff ware, and occurs sporadically in the Arretine and post- Arretine phases of the Northern Sector The type is invariably decorated with an Type 148 is a portable hand-made oven of horse-shoe plan applied band of finger-tip ornament on the exterior and a row of finger-nail impressions or punched circlets on It is of a thick coarse fabric and is the flanges of the opening usually grey in the pre-Arrctme and Arretine layers and greyish red in the post-Arretine period of the Northern Sector and throughout the occupation in the Southern Normally it is of a crude workmanship but sometimes its exterior is smoothed and slipped

CHINESE CELADON WARE

Sherds of celadon ware can be picked up occasionally upon the surface of the site, These occurred invariably m mixed and fourteen were found during the excavation It is likely that the numerous Cola coins, of the eleventh deposits and spoil-trenches or adjacent centuries A D found previously should be ascribed to similar superficial Coins and pottery alike deposits, as was a copper com of this period found in 1945
,

clearly relate, not to the occupation of the site, but to its spoliation in the middle ages The ware is greyish white in section but assumes a dull pink surface where (generally For the on the underside of the base) it has been exposed directly to the heat of the kiln

mpst part
see below,
dishes, all

it is

covered with a jade green glaze, usually crackled (For chemical analysis, The shapes, so far as they can be reconstructed, indicate bowls and ) with foot-rings, to one of which sand adheres The bowls are usually fluted or

p 94

dimpled Celadon ware was made principally in the Chekiang province of China, notably at Yuen Chou, Lung-Ch'uan and Ch*u Chou, where its kilns are known It was already m production before the end of the Tang dynasty (A D 618-906), but it is specially characteristic of the Sung and Yuan dynasties (A D 960-1368) when its manufacture Much of it was made centred first round Lung-Ch'uan and later round Ch'u Chou specifically for foreign trade, and its distribution began before A D 883, the date of the abandonment of Samarra (on the Tigris), where typical Yueh Chou wares, characterized This ware occurs in fair quantity sand adhering to the foot-ring, have been found by also in the mounds of Fostat (Old Cairo) The export trade in celadon became brisk the Sung period (A D 960-1279) and Plates of this ware have reached its peak under the Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368) been found extensively over Asia and East Africa It occurs, for example, in Persia at In India, in addition to Ankamedu, it has Rhages which was destroyed in A D 1256 been picked up at Brahmmabad in Smd and at Kayal on the banks of the Tamraparni the Tmnevelly District In the Yuan period (A D 1280-1368) the manufacture was extended to Siam, but the products of the Siamese kilns do not appear to have attained the standard or volume of the establishments in China The archaeological evidence is supported and supplemented by historical notices. Albiruni (A D 973-1048) refers to the export of these wares to India, Ceylon and Persia.

91

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
SalSdra of Egypt

have made a gift of several examples to Nur-e-dln, Sultan of 1171 Marco Polo (A D. 1288) describes the route of their export from Damascus, the Chinese port of Ch'u Chou by way of Cochin China and Sumatra to Martaban in 1 Burma, whence it was transhipped to Ceylon and to Coilam or Quilon (Malabar Coast), The ware was Gujarat, Cambay and Malwa in India, and across the ocean to Zanzibar in great demand throughout the ancient orient as much for its supposed medicinal properties

AD

is

said to

as for

its

aesthetic quality

FIG 39

Chinese celadon *are

reference to Coilam or Quilon on the Malabar Coast as a port of call assumes added significance in the light of allusions to this coastal town as a medieval settlement of Chinese merchants 2 The discovery of celadon at Ankamedu shows that the eastern coast of India not unnaturally had also ports of call for ships engaged in the China trade The celadon wares found at Arikamedu have all the characteristics of the Sung and Yuan Lung-Ch'uan wares meant for export trade As the plain wares are earlier in date than the decorated ones, the Ankamedu specimens (which are invariably plain) may perhaps An early date is also suggested by the be ascribed to circa tenth-twelfth centuries recovery here of a fragment of a typical Yuen foot-ring with sand adhering to it. The following examples of this ware from Arikamedu are here illustrated (fig 39)

The

AD

fabric, from the unstratified French excavations From a sandy layer immediately underlying a 'spoilof a bowl with fluted and ridged body trench' in the Northern Sector (AK VI) From an unstratified deposit of the 3 Fragment of a dish with hollowed nm for receiving a lid Southern Sector (AK I) From a superficial deposit of the Southern Sector 4 Fragment of a plain bowl From a spoil-trench of the Southern Sector 5 Base of fluted bowl with foot-ring From an unstratified deposit of the Southern 6-7 Fragments of thick-walled dishes showing foot-ring
1

Bowl of thin

Rim

Sector
1

(AK

I)

The transhipment
See

at

Martaban was responsible

for the popular Persian designation of this

ware as
Press), I

Martabanl
2

K P P

Menon, History of Kerala, ed by T K Krishna Menon (Cochin Government

92

(1924), 270ff

ARIKAMEDU
BIBLIOGRAPHY

W
R
E

A L

L Ashton and

Art of China (London, 1944) Hcthcnngton, The Early Ceramic Wares of China (London, 1922) Basil Gray, Chinese An (London, 1935) L Hobson, 'Potsherds from Brahmmabad', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, 1928-30, p 21 H Hunt, Old Hyderabad China (Bombay, 1916)

B Honey, The Ceramic

ADDENDA TO THE POTTERY

(0 Comparison of the Arikamedu pottery with North Indian wares

Although the available evidence for comparison is at present far from extensive, a may be offered between the Ankamedu pottery and that of a The northern sites in question few approximately contemporary sites in northern India are Taxila (Punjab), Ahichchhatra (U P ) and Mahoh (U P near Mathura) The comparison reveals very few affinities between the northern and the southern series The general run of the southern wares is of somewhat coarser fabric than the northern, a difference due in part, perhaps, to the varying qualities of the clay, but emEven utilitarian phasized in the South by a generally less sophisticated range m design devices such as spouts, handles and pinched lips are very rare at Arikamedu, although fairly abundant in the North Two or three types, however, appear to indicate a certain elementary community of The dishes with convex bases and incurved sides, tradition between the two regions grouped as Type 2 both at Arikamedu and at Ahichchhatra (Ancient India, No 1, p 45), fabric and, although the show a resemblance not merely in form but sometimes also
provisional comparison
,

not highly specialized, it is possible that the Arikamedu series represents the culminathe North, goes back at least to the fourth century B C tion of a widespread form which, On the other hand, the very highly polished fabric used for some of the northern dishes and christened Northern Black Polished Ware (ib p 55) is not found m the South The nearest approach to it at Arikdmedu is the occasional use of a magnetic lustre (see pp 51 94), but this is very rare and constitutes a different technique Possibly a more significant analogy is presented by the Arikamedu Type 12, which is identical with Ahichchhatra Type 29 Hist Soc XV, 1940, (dated A D 100-350) and a Kushana type at Mahoh (Journ India and must not be held to 1), but this type has a wide range in time and space
type
is

The same reservation applies to Arikamedu Type imply close cultural or other links Via, which resembles a type found at Taxila (Sirkap) and there datable presumably to the -A first centuries B

pi

UP

(11)

Chemist's notes
pp

Salt-glazing (see above,

50, 51, 52, 55)

Several specimens of pottery found at Ankamedu in the (earlier) Northern Sector are glazed, showing the characteristic crackled surface or 'crazing' under the microscope The coating of glaze, however, does not stand out as a distinct layer, and the glazed effect is only superficial It is therefore highly probable that these

In the process of firing, when the fuel has almost burnt out in the kiln and the specimens were salt-glazed Under the intense heat the salt volatilizes and, by pots are still red-hot, moist salt is thrown into the kiln on the surface of the pots, produces the glaze reacting chemically
1

Supplied by the Chemist of the Archaeological Survey of India

93

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
Black
v///>

\\ith lustrous

finnh (see above, p 51)

few potsherds, confined to the prc-Arretme and the lowest Arretme layers of the Northern Sector, show a black slip with a striking metallic lustre The particles of the black film are magnetic, and chemical analysis There is shows that the black substance consists largely of magnetic oxide of iron, which is black in colour no doubt that amorphous carbon in the form of soot or smoke also contributes to the black colour Graphitic carbon is absent The black substance on the other potsherds sent for comparison from the same site is not magnetic, and thus the difference in lustre and tint must be attributed to the finely divided magnetic oxide of

The presence of soot indicates that a smoky fire was used for baking the ware at a moderate temperature This black is due to the penetration of fine removing the shiny film a dull black surface is exposed It appears particles of carbon into the pores of the sherd, and also to the presence of iron in the ferrous condition that a slip of ferruginous clay was applied to the ware and it was then baked at a moderate temperature in a
iron

On

smoky

fire

Haematite

slip

polished bright red slip is occasionally found at Arikamedu in all periods and is identified as haematite At ordinary temperatures the following oxides of iron are known to have a deep red to light red colour This does not contain any chemically com(1) Anhydrous sesqui oxide of iron, known as haematite

bined water ,

Hydrated oxide of iron, known as hmomtc, (3) Hydrated oxide of iron, known as gocthitc Nos 2 and 3, natural hydrated ferric oxides, have 9 9 to 13 2% of water of hydration This chemically combined water is driven off by heating the oxides to dull red heat Dehvdration experiments on goethitc at different temperatures show that us complete dehydration and conversion into haematite take place at about 380C the finer the gram-size, the faster the dehydration It is clear, therefore, that whatever Furthermore, be the form of the oxide present in the original slip, baking at 600~700C would convert it into anhydrous sesqui oxide of iron or haematite During the operation of firing, any water present in the oxide of iron will be com(2)

pletely driven off because the temperature of the kiln is likely to be much higher than the dehydration-temperature of the oxide The presence of goethite or any other hydrated oxide of iron must be ruled out in view of these facts In order to settle the point, however, surface scrapings of the red slip were heated to dull red heat (700800C ) and loss in weight determined The loss in weight was inappreciable, whereas if the red material were There is, therefore, no doubt that the goethite or hmonite, roughly a loss of 10% should have been observed red substance present as slip is anhydrous sesqui oxide of iron or haematite is clear from the above that there is no means of It finding out whether the original slip was powdered goethite or haematite, for, even if goethite were used in the slip originally, the temperature required for baking and glazing would be sufficiently high for its complete dehydration and conversion into haematite

Chinese celadon ware (above, p 91)

The composition of the body of

SiO 2 A1 2 O 8

the sample submitted

is

given below

7367"
19 15/
1

FegOs

41

FeO CaO

243% 327%
1

MgO MnO
Alkalies

02';,,

in traces

in traces

TOTAI

100 95

The body is dense and greyish green in colour Copper, lead, cobalt and phosphate are absent Chemical analysis of the sample shows that the colour of the body is due to iron compounds A very high must have been used for firing and porcelaimzing the clay temperature Microscopic examination of the body,
94

ARIKAMEDU
however, shows that vitrification is very imperfect and coarse grams of quartz and iron oxide are occasionally observed This course had to be adopted because Next, the analysis of the body and the glaze was undertaken very minute quantities were involved and the marked hardness of the sample made it difficult to separate The results of quantitative analysis are as follows the glaze completely from the body

SiO, A1.0, Fe.0.

7232% 1927% 191%

FeO

CaO

MgO MnO
Alkalies
.

220% 399% 089%

traces

traces

TOTAL

100 58

The sample is free from copper, lead, cobalt and phosphate The above analysis leads to the conclusion that the greyish green colour of the glaze is due to the presence The compound which imparts the characteristic colour to the glaze may be a ferrous silicate or a of ferrous iron The results, however, leave no doubt as to solid solution of oxide in the complex alumina-silicates present

When the two analyses are compared, it becomes evident that the compositions the technique of the glazing of the glaze and the body are quite similar This accounts for the remarkable freedom of the glaze from crazing* or 'crackling* 'Crazing' is primarily due to difference in the dilatabihty of the body and the glaze when
exposed to changes
is little is

chemical composition, there in temperature When the body and the glaze are similar * difference in the rate of expansion and the glaze may not show any crazing' When, however, there a wide divergence in the rate of expansion owing to difference in chemical composition, the glaze is often

fired in one operation the glazed surface, as shown b) the microscope, Its suggests that the glazing was imperfect owing to incomplete vitrification of the constituents of the glaze freedom from alkalies and lead would require a very high temperature of firing for complete vitrification, when the easily fusible ferrous silicates and complex iron-alummo-sibcates would combine with the more refractory

crackled or crazed

The body and the glaze seem to have been The presence of a large number of bubbles or spherulites in

An application of extremely finely levigated ferruginous clay to the dried ware clay and produce the glaze of the same type of clay, followed by drying and polishing to level the coating, and subsequent firing at a very high temperature in a reducing atmosphere, would be the necessary condition for the formation of the glazed
ware under investigation 5

OTHER SMALL FINDS

The chronological scheme into which the other small finds (equally with the pottery) are fitted has been detailed above, p 50 Finds from strata, mostly late, which could not be equated with any building-period or significant sequence, together with those from I, a much disturbed site in the Southern Sector, are grouped as ^stratified'

AK

BEADS
the excavations, various materials were found unfinished ones and fragments of semi-precious stones doubtless intended for the industry It is evident that beads were manufactured on a large scale at
besides a

More than two hundred beads of

number of

Arikamedu. 1

Besides the semi-precious stones mentioned below, several pieces of obsidian and green jasper have also
glass-slag.

been found, together with much

95

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
The materials used
Semi-precious
Shell
(b) Crystalline

for the manufacture of beads

(a)

fall

under the following heads:

stones

Chalcedomc quartz, including agate and carnehan. quartz, including crystal and amethyst

Bone Gold
Terracotta Fafence Glass
the semi-precious stones, amethyst and carnehan account for ten beads each, and agate, banded or plain, four Though amethyst occurs even in the post-Arretine deposits in the Northern Sector there is only one specimen of it in the It is therefore possible Southern Sector, found in mixed soil a few inches below the surface that the stone fell into disuse as a bead-making material in the latter part of the life of the
crystalline quartz eight,

Of

town Carnehan

is

distributed in all the periods with a fair uniformity

Agate and quartz-

Whether crystal are absent in the pre-Arretme and Arretme strata of the Northern Sector this phenomenon is due to their late appearance as a bead-making material in this part of the country or to the limited area in which the pre-Arretme and Arretme strata were touched
cannot be said Shell, on the'other hand, is^not represented in the collection from the Southern Sector, This again though thirteen shell beads were found distributed at all levels in the Northern may be an accidental feature, as the fishing of shell is a long-established industry on the Bone beads are rare, there being only two specimens, one each southern coast of India from the Arretine and the post-Arretme levels in the Northern Sector Three gold beads have been found at Ankamedu 1 From an Arretme-producing layer (AK II 8A) of the Northern Sector barrelshaped in elevation and scalloped or fluted in cross-section Comparable with fluted gold beads from Taxila (Bhir Mound), dated to the end of the
fourth century B C ,* but the type is of much earlier origin, occurring, for example, in the temple of E-anna at Uruk at the end of the third millennium B C (Iraq Museum, Baghdad) Fig 41, 40, pi XXXIVA, 1 From a post- Arretine deposit of the same Sector (AK II, 4) short-barrel circular

2
3

From

Fig 41, 41 pi XXXIVA, 2 the previous excavations, and

,

now
3

the Pondicherry Bibhotheque

long-barrel circular

PI

XXXJVA,

Faience is rare, being represented by one bead from a post-Arretine layer in the Northern Sector, and another from near the surface in the Southern There are sixteen terracotta beads from all levels of both the Sectors They show little variation of shape, being always either pear-shaped or spherical the latter are found only in the Southern Sector, along with the pear-shaped ones These objects are very common on all ancient sites and have often been described as spindle- whorls, which indeed some of the larger specimens may have been A majority of the beads is made of glass The range of colour is limited shades of blue and green are the most popular colours throughout, followed by copper-red, less common colours being white and black, whilst yellow, violet, brown and grey are rarely The material is generally opaque but sometimes translucent , transparent glass represented
1

Ancient India,

No

(1946),

p 32

AR1KAMEDI
few very tiny glass beads, spherical or spheroid in shape, have been found in Some glass beads from the later strata in the Southern Sector are site manufacture (Cf fig 40, 33 and 34 ) misshaped The range of bead-shapes is not very large, nor can it be affirmed that any particular
is

absent

all

periods of the

'

shape, unless possibly the lug-collared type (see below), was restricted to any period or The material shapes represented are- spherical, spheroid, pear-shaped, cylindrical, Some of them may be divided into subbarrel, truncated bicone, oblate and collared 2 types, such as circular, square, hexagonal, etc , according to their cross-sections The spherical and spheroid shapes continued to be the most common throughout the The more specialized shapes may also be said to have continued occupation of the town It is true that the shapes represented in the pre-Arretine and Arretine generally throughout periods are much more limited in number than in the later penods, but this is probably due to the relatively small area in which these levels were excavated On the whole, it may be held that there is no marked disappearance of old shapes or sudden emergence of new ones in the later penods The only possible exception to these generalizations is presented by a class of beads ' known as 'collared beads, which are generally barrel-shaped in elevation with an attachment at either end These attachments may be inconspicuous, being merely formed by shallow incisions near the ends which hardly disturb the profile of the bead, or may be in the form ' The class may thus be divided into 'groove-collared and 'lug-collared* of prominent lugs Of the five groove-collared beads in the present collection, one each comes from the preArretme, Arretine and post-Arretine deposits of the Northern Sector , the fourth and fifth ones are from the Southern Sector, found very near the surface, and are of no stratigraphic The lug-collared beads first make their appearance in the 'Arretine' period consequence (first half of first century AD), and continue throughout the post-Arretme layers of the conclusion Northern Sector to the latest period of the Southern (second century may be hazarded that on this site the groove-collared beads antedate the lug-collared ones, but the inference must be checked by a study of this class of beads from other stratified sites The Pondicherry Bibhotheque contains three new types of collared beads found previously at Ankamedu, besides those found in the present excavations (I) a barrel

mam

AD) A

roughly

elliptical

groove-collared bead of amethyst

41, 57),

lug-collared bead of glass (fig amethyst (fig 41, 58)

at

and

(3)

(fig 41, 50), (2) a barrel plano-convex a cornerless cube lug-collared bead of

In India, apart from a sort of prototype Collared beads have a ver) wide distribution in India and outside 8 (third millennium B C ), they are known to occur at Chandravalli (Mysore State) in a stratum strata said which produced two denarii of Tiberius (died A D 37), Kontfapur and Maski (Hyderabad State)

Mohenjodaro

to be of the
(Bihar),
*

Andhra

period,

isupSl near

DurgSpur (Bengal),

and

in

Bhubancswar (Onssd), Kau&mbi (United Provinces), PSfahputra both the two city-sites, Bhir Mound and Sirkap, at Taxila
it

(Punjab)

As

the chronology of Taxila has been fixed with fair accuracy,

may be

helpful to analyze the

The three smallest ones measure OS, 06 and 08 inch respectively The method of classification adopted here is that of H Beck, 'Classification and Nomenclature of Beads and Pendants', Archaeohgta, LXXVI1 (1928), Iff, and is as follows Hold a bead with its hole in the horizontal The elevation thus obtained is its primary shape The cross-section through position and parallel to the eye
1

its

centre, cutting the hole at right angles, gives its secondary shape J Marshall, Mohenjodaro and the Indus Civilization (1931), IU, pi CXLIX, fig 5 4 In the DurgSpur collection of Mr Apt Kumar Mukerji, there are two collared beads, one of each variety These details In all other cases the lug-collared type is predominant, though the other type is not unknown

are derived from the drawings of Chandravalli beads kindly supplied by the Director of Archaeology, Mysore, photographs of Kontfapur and Maski beads by the Superintendent of Archaeology, Hyderabad and drawings
,

97

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
occurrence of these beads there
after

The Bhir Mound,

believed to have been deserted

the second century

an existence of about three hundred years, yielded five groove-collared and throe lug-collared beads, while Sirkap, which had been founded at the time of the desertion of the Bhir Mound and continued in occupation until the end of the first or beginning of the second century , yielded only one groove-collared and seven One more lug-collared bead comes from Jauliftn, a late monastic settlement The priority lug-collared beads

AD

of the groove-collared beads over the lug-collared ones is therefore fairly established at Taxila but the occurrence of the latter in the Bhir Mound suggests that it was a known type by the second century B C Ribbed gold beads Outside India, collared beads at Gezer in Palestine have been dated B C 1000-500 with a collar at each end have been found in late Mycenaean tombs at Lnkomi and Curium in Cyprus * dated to the first half of the sixth century Collared beads have also been produced from other graves Cyprus
, l

BC*

one groove-collared bead from Ur (before B C 600) and three lug-collared ones from * Egypt (Xllth Dynasty), Praeneste (B C 800) and Cumac (B C 500) respectively

Beck

illustrates

In the Pondicherry Bibhotheque are the following shapes, derived from the previous those of 1945 explorations but not represented short-barrel gadrooned bead of carnehan comparable with the gold bead, fig 41, (1) 41, and pi XXXI VA, 1, and doubtless denved from a metal prototype (fig 41, 61), (2) a barrel (almost plano-convex) tabular bead of banded agate (fig 41, 59), (3) an eye-bead of banded agate (fig 41, 63), (4) a double-eye bead of the same material (fig 41, 62), and

(5)

a frog-bead of light green glass 6

List

(fig

41, 60)
(figs

of selected beads

40-41)

Carnehan
Glass Glass Glass Glass Glass Glass Glass Glass
Shell

2
3

spheroid
spheroid

spherical Unstratified
Unstratified

Unstratified

(AKIV-206) (AKIV-99) (AKI-188)

11-244)

4
5

6 7
8

spheroid spheroid spheroid spheroid spheroid

Arretine

Arretine
Arrctine

(AK (AK (AK

11-275) 11-459)

Post-Arretme
Unstratified

(AKVI-13) (AKI-97)
(AKII-10)

9
10
11

Post-Arretine spheroid Post-Arretme spheroid Glass truncated bicone circular

(AK

11-389)

Glass truncated bicone circular (AK 11-406 ) 12A Glass truncated bicone circular Unstratified (AK IV-294 ) 13 Glass short-oblate circular Post-Arretme (AK 11-463) 14 Glass short-oblate circular Post-Arretme (AKV-106) 15 Glass short-oblate circular Arretine (AK 11-407) 16 Glass barrel circular Arretine (AKH-407A) 17 Glass barrel circular Arretine 11-401 ) (AK 18 Glass barrel elliptical Post-Arretme (AKVH-17) 19 Faience long-barrel circular Post- Arretine (AKIH-37)
12

Post-Arretme Post-Arretme

(AK

11-501

of

Kau&mbi and Pajahputra beads in the Patna Museum and photographs of Durgftpur beads by the Superintendents, Archaeological Survey of India, Central and Eastern Circles respectively '
S Macahster, The Excavation of Gezer (1912), II, p 112, andIU.pl CXXXVII, 60 Walters, Excavations in Cyprus (Bnt Mus , 1900), pp 65, 81 and pis VIII and XIII Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, the Bible and Homer (1893), pis LXVII, 7 , CXLIV, 2 and 5 , and possibly pi XXV, 7, and p 208, fig 170 H Beck, op clt , p 15, fig 16 , p 4, fig 8 , p 15, fig 16 and p 67, fig 74 H Beck, 'The Beads from Taxila ', Memoir of the Frog-beads have been found also at Taxila Archaeological Survey of India, No 65 (1941), pi VII They also occur at Kau&mbl (UP) , specimens in the Allahabad Museum For eye-beads, see Beck, op cit., pi. I

R A

Murray Smith and

98

AR1KAMEDV

Q
Q
12

10

12

&

13

14

15

O
16

Q
17

18

19

20

21

22

23

Q
24
25
26
27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34
Fie 40
99

35

ANCIENT INDIA, NO

39

40

46

47

48

51

52

53

54

sag
55
56

ao
57
56
61
FIG 41

60

62
f

20
21

Carnelian

22
23

(AKIV-113) long-barrel hexagonal Late Dram period (AK.IV-266) Agate long-barrel elliptical circular. UnstraUfied (AK 1-161 ) Agate long-barrel roughly Amethyst long-barrel tabular Arretme (AKn-545)
Glass Glass
tabular circular.
Arretine.
cylindrical circular cylindrical circular

UnstraUfied

24
25

Arretine

26

Glass

(AKH-490) (AKVI-10) Unstratificd (AKIV-125)

100

To face page 100

PLATE XXXIII

i ;

K,

<

PLATE XXXIV

To face page 101

Gold heath

Scale 2

Roman

glass

AR1KAMEDV
27 28 29 30
31

Glass

Agate
Glass Glass
Glass Glass Glass

long-cylindrical circular long-cylindrical circular

Unstratified

Post-Arretine

long-cylindrical circular long-cylindrical circular

Post-Arrctme
Unstratified

(AKI-93) (AKII-487) (AK.V-39)

(AKM08)
)

Glass- long-cylmdncal circular.

Arretme

(AKH-315)

32
33 34 35 36 37 38

Post-Arretine long-cylindrical circular (AK 111-65 ) Unstratified long-cylindrical circular (misshaped) (AK IV-25 Unstratified. long-cylindrical circular (misshaped).

(AKIV-146)

Post-Arrctme (AK 11-221 ) Agate cylindrical circular Arretme (AK 11-238) Amethyst cylindrical hexagonal truncated bicone hexagonal Post-Arretine Amethyst (AK 11-453
Crystalline quartz

39

40
41

42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51

Unstratified (AK 1-27 ) (AKVH-20) toggle Gold long-barrel fluted Arretme (AK U-359 ) (See also pi XXXIVA, Gold circular Post-Arretine (AK 11-596 ) (See also pi. XXXTVA, 2 ) Pre-Arretine Terracotta pear-shaped (AK V-90 ) Prc-structural Terracotta pear-shaped (AK IV-300 )

truncated bicone hexagonal

Glass

Post-Arretme.

1 )

Terracotta

pear-shaped

Early Phase

(AKIV-232)
Pre- Arretme

Glass Glass Glass Glass

barrel circular groove-collared barrel circular groove-collared

barrel circular groove-collared barrel elliptical groove-collared

52
53

IV-48 ) Quartz-crystal unfinished Amethyst barrel roughly elliptical groove-collared Pondicherry Bibliothe"que Shell barrel circular lug-collared Arretine (AK 11-390) Post-Arretme (AK 11-544 ) Amethyst barrel circular lug-collared

(AK 11-558 ) (AK II- 548 (\K 11-483 ) Unstratified (AK 1-29 ) barrel groove-collared Unstratified (AK
Arretine
)

Post- Arretine

Glass

54
55 56
^7

Amethyst
Glass Glass

barrel circular lug-collared Post-Arretme (AK 11-125) barrel tabular lug-collared Post-Arretme (AK VII-38

Crystalline quartz

barrel elliptical lug-collared barrel circular lug-collared Unstratified

Unstratified

(AK

1-5

(AKIV-108)

58 59

barrel plano-convex lug-collared Pondicherry Bibhothlque Amethyst cornerless cube lug-collared Pondicherry BibliotMque barrel (almost plano-convex) tabular Agate Pondicherry Bibhothe'que

(See also pi

XXXIII, 10

60
61

frog-bead Pondicherry Bibliothique Carnelian barrel gadrooned Pondicherry Bibhothe*que

Glass

62
63

Agate Agate

elliptical

spherical single eye

Pondicherry Bibliothdque plano-convex double-eye Pondicherry Bibliothdque

F.

GRAECO-ROMAN GEM

(PL

XXXIIIB,

12)

Reference has been made to the casual discovery of a gem said to bear the head of The Bibhotheque at Pondicherry also contains a Augustus in intaglio (above, p 21) quartz intaglio of Graeco-Roman workmanship representing Cupid and a bird, apparently an eagle The gem is untnmmed and may therefore have been made locally by a Mediterranean craftsman It was found on the site but there is no record of the circumstances

G.

ROMAN LAMP (no

42, 1)

lamp, here restored in accordance Fragment of the disc and Of fine red ware with the normal form of the Augustan period (early first century Another fragment II , not stratified Found in the spoil-trench over the principal wall of of a Roman lamp was found in the previous excavations.
side-volute of a

Roman

AK

AD)

101

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

H.
(1)

ROMAN

GLASS BOWLS

Fragment of pillar-moulded bowl of whitish iridescent glass. Northern Sector, Bowls of this type originated apparently in Italy, and spread throughout post-Arretine the Roman world from the end of the first century B C to the end of the first century A D. In Germany, they occur at Haltern (11 B.C.-A.D. 16) and are very common at Hofheim (A D 40-51), but are almost completely absent from the forts of the German Limes, dating from the end of the first century A D onwards. 1 Fig 42, 2, also pi XXXIVB, 1. Fragments of four or five similar bowls were found at Ankamedu by the French excavators.

i
i

l$$ i
\
*
v

,'\
* -

V-iV
;;

;
'*
' .

/'

FIG 42
(2)

/,

Roman pottery tamp

2-3,

Roman

glass bowls

Fragment of bowl of blue

I

pre-Arretine

Northern Sector, glass with horizontally ribbed side Doubtless also of Mediterranean origin Fig 42, 3 ; also pi. XXXIVB, 2.

TERRACOTTA OBJECTS

Compared with

the prolific sites of northern India, the terracotta objects found at

Ankamedu are surprisingly few in number Nor can these few be put in their proper places among analogous finds from South Indian sites, as very little terracotta material from
South India is at present available for study The following objects, together with the beads mentioned above (p 96), comprise the whole of the terracotta from the present
excavation
(1)
.

Torso of a female figure in the round The right arm hangs down and touches the hip, while the left is placed akimbo, holding a basket of seeds or fruits. The figure is heavily draped, the right end of the sdri being tucked up and wound round the waist Northern Sector, pre-Arretine (end of first century B.C. or beginning (pi XXXVA, 1) of first century A.D.) The left hand hangs down and touches the (2) Torso of a female figure in the round. The figure is also heavily, but somewhat hip, while the right is probably held akimbo. The upper garment, starting obviously from the right shoulder, passes differently, draped. A below the left arm; the folds of the lower one are depicted by oblique parallel lines long raised tassel hangs throughout the centre of the lower portion of the body (pi. XXXVA, Northern Sector, Arretine period (first half of first century A.D.). 2)
1

See

Ritterling,

Das Frtihromische Lager

bet

Hofheim, pp 371-2.
102

To face page 102

PLATE XXXV

Tirra<ofta\ found in 194*

B.

Gaming

pieces, etc

PLATE XXXVI

To face plate

XXXVII

To face

plate

XX XVI

PLATE XXXVII

II <Hi<J(

n nuilk

pn - A ml me

INCHES

CMS

Rope, pre-Arretme

PLATE XXXVIII

To face page 103

Sections of \\ood from pre-4netine lu\cri

1-2,

tro^-\e(tion\ of

4K

//,
,

552,
i

3, tangential scition

of

AK

//,

552,

4,

tro^-wtion of AK

//,

55^, bad\\ tuistetl portion

row-set tion oj 411 niaqni/ieiJ 10 lnne\, c\u'pt No 3 wluth /s

55^, \\ell-pre\er\ed portion
5,

AK

//,

magnified 50 time*

ARIKAMEDU
(3) Left upraised hand of a human figure with a bangle, the fingers clutching what seems to be the stalk of a flower (pi XXXV A, 4). Northern Sector, post-Arretine (second half of first century A.D ) The portion (4) Fragment of a sauare or rectangular slab of the SySgapafa type round the centre seems to have been undecorated Beyond are concentric circles, followed in the extant corner by a conventional honeysuckle design The edges are decorated by Southern Sector, Late Phase oblique hatching (pi. XXXVA, 3) * of the votive tank' type. The (5) Irregularly shaped fragmentary object, possibly Southern Sector, unstratified field is decorated with short notches (pi XXXVA, 5) Southern Sector, unstratified (6) Object similar to the above, but more fragmentary (7) Crude shapeless model of an animal a lump on the back may indicate that it was Southern Sector, unstratified intended to represent a humped bull (pi XXXVB, 2) (8) and (9) Two gaming pieces, one depicting a human head with a projecting snout Southern Sector, unstratified (pi. XXXVB, 3 and 4) Southern Sector, (10) Cylinder, probably also a gaming piece (pi XXXVB, 1),
,

unstratified.

(11) Pear-shaped object with projecting knob or foot, probably a top (pi XXXVA, 6) Southern Sector, unstratified A large number of terracotta discs were found from all deposits in both the Sectors Some of these pieces are except the pre-Arretine (an exception which may be accidental) only potsherds made into a roughly circular shape by rubbing, but there are a few which Some of the former class have one or two perforations are deliberately moulded to shape All these may be regarded as at the centre, and one is decorated with rough scratches

gaming pieces
at

PI

XXXVB,

5-11
the Bibliotheque

The following terracottas found during previous excavations and now in They are not independently dated Pondicherry may be added

or more probably with The pendant right hand (1) Torso of a male figure, nude diaphanous drapery The figure wears a thick necklace holds a hook-like object, and the left a large indistinct object against the hip of cabled design, ending in two large rosette-shaped pendants and a girdle of pellets (pi XXXVIA, 1) The high conical mass of matted hair is entwined by a serpent, (2) Head of a male figure, evidently &va The eyes are half-closed (pi XXXVIA, 2) and its forepart bears a crescent
(3)

(4)

Head of a male figure, much defaced The hair is curled and hangs below the ears (pi XXXVIA, 3) Fragment of a female figure The drapery is somewhat similar to that of No 1 of the 1945 series
4)

(pi

XXXVIA,

(5) and (6) Lower portion of two female figures standing on round pedestals which cover part of the feet, only the toes being visible (pi XXXVIA, 5 and 6)

They are clad

in loose skirts,

J.

METAL

OBJECTS

FKJ 43."" 1-4, iron

objects

5,

copper rattle
103

6, quartz ring

7,

ivory handle

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
Besides a
objects

number of shapeless lumps of iron found almost everywhere, the following

recorded
:

may be

(1) Iron ring (fig 43, 4). (2)

(3) (5)

Northern Sector, post-Arretine. Southern Sector, unstratified Fragmentary iron blade, tanged (fig 43, 1) and (4) Two iron nails, one of them with a round head (fig. 43, 2-3). Southern Sector, Early Phase, and unstratified respectively. Copper rattle with a slit and a loop for suspension (fig 43, 5). Southern Sector, Late Drain Period (second century

AD)

K.

STONE OBJECTS
Northern Sector,

The following stone

objects deserve mention

(1) Short cylindrical object

of sandstone, possibly a weight

pre-Arretme.

Northern Sector, post-Arretmc ur fragmentary cylindrical pestles, two of granite and two of sandstone Southern Sector, unstratified Southern Sector, pre-structural (7) Complete celt of trap (fig 44, 4) Southern Sector, near the surface <8) Fragmentary celt of sandstone Southern Sector, unstratified (9) Knob of the steatite hd of a casket
(2)

Fragmentary gnndmg-stone of sandstone

(3)-(6)

WOODEN

OBJECTS

AND ROPES

The water-logged sand and slime below sea -level in the Northern Sector preserved a number of pieces of wood, mostly unfashioned but in some cases shaped, together with a cocoanut shell and a few pieces of palm shell and rope, all in the pre-Arretme layers (late
first

century B C or early first century AD) Of the wooden objects the following deserve mention
(1)

(2)
(3)

Roughly fashioned block of wood, with its central portion scooped out, resembling a cumbrous shuttle, possibly a toy-boat (ng 44, 1) Leg of a cot or stool, roughly carved, with two rectangular mortices cut into its upper portion to receive the wooden bars forming the frame (fig 44, 3) Cylindrical piece of wood, carved into zones with shallow incised lines, possibly
a toggle handle broken
(fig

(4) Mallet,

44, 2; also pi.

XXXVIIA)

numerous pieces of rope the longest had a length of about nine inches and a diameter of about one inch Like all the other pieces it was made of three strands of
the

Of

cocoanut

fibres twisted together (pi

XXXVIIB)
By

REPORT ON WOOD AND FRUIT SHELLS

K A CHOWDHURY
Six specimens of
feet

and S S GHOSH, Forest Research

1

Institute,

Deltra

Dun

Material

about 4

wood and two pieces of fruit shells, collected from Ankamedu (near Pondicherry) from below the sea-level, were received for identification and report On first examination the wood specimens were found to be in a late stage of deterioration All attempts to cut clean surfaces with a The tissues got crushed by the action of the knife and came out in a sharp pocket-knife met with failure powdery form This so obliterated the anatomical structure that it was not possible to hazard even a guess
as to the identity of these specimens

104

PLAN

SECTION

ON

BB

SECTION

ON AA

Fro 44

1-3, objects of wood. 4, stone axe

105

ANCIENT INDIA, NO
2.

Method of study

The wood samples were embedded in cclloidin Small pieces, | inch to } inch square, were cut with a sharp hacksaw and put in 70 % alcohol overnight Air was drawn out with the help of a vacuum-pump and the specimens were passed through 90% and absolute alcohol giving two changes in each daily They were then put into alcohol-ether solution twice for twelve hours The samples were then put through the celloidin solution of 2 % to A pressure cylinder was used to expedite the process of embedding l Each 4 % to 6 % to 8 % to 12 % to 16 stage lasted for 24 hours under pressure of 80 Ib per inch. At the last stage the samples with a thick coating of celloidin on them were put into chloroform for four hours for hardening The material was next transferred A few drops of chloroform were added later, as it was noticed that the blocks to tubes containing 30 % of alcohol were turning gradually spongy Sections were then cut with a Jeffrey-Thomson Microtome, IS to 30 /* thick To get over this, Difficulty was still experienced in cutting these specimens as they were breaking into pieces a thin coating of 2% celloidin solution was applied to keep the tissues intact while cutting The sections were then cut from all the three surfaces, and put into 50% alcohol They were then stained in Haidenhain's Due to the delicate nature of the sections, it was necessary to handle them haematoxylin and Bismark brown Before permanently mounting them in Canada Balsam, they were passed carefully for staining and dehydrating Sometimes this step had hurriedly through a mixture of absolute alcohol and ether to remove the celloidin to be omitted because, on dissolving, the celloidin sections broke into pieces To overcome this, sections were Even then, some sections passed through 90% alcohol and absolute alcohol, adding a little chloroform m each were not found satisfactory for detailed study under microscope In the case of AK 11-535 and AK 11-554, the cells were pressed so much that it was not possible to make out the diagnostic features of these Umbers Fresh sets of blocks were, therefore, prepared and put into hot KOH (5%) solution for about two hours They were then washed thoroughly in hot water, passed through the alcohol series and finally embedded in celloidin By this method sections showing better details were obtained except one sample of AK. 11-554, which still appeared to be greatly twisted (pi XXXVIII, 5) It was not possible to obtain good transverse sections of this piece, but tangential and radial sections were fairly good and showed all the minute details required for definite identification

Results

It was noticed that The microscopic slides prepared were first examined under lower-power microscope Two pieces marked by the Archaeological the six samples of wood actually came from three different trees Department as AK 11-552 and the piece marked AK 11-535 came from one tree, one piece marked AK 11-552 Detailed anatomical report on from a second tree and the two pieces marked AK 11-554 from a third tree

their examination

is

given below

Specimen Nos

AK 11-552 (two pieces) and AK 11-535

Gross feature of the wood The biggest of these three specimens was 4 inches x 3 inches and the smallest 11-552 were from a branch, for both the pith and the bark were about 2 inches x $ inch Specimen Nos them The colours of all the specimens were dirty brown to blackish brown, and some parts appeared noticed It is a Vessels very small, just visible with a lens, to be charred diffuse-porous wood with faint growth marks

AK

scanty, often arranged in radial chains Soft tissues in fine tangential lines, often forming net-like structure with the rays Rays are extremely fine and equidistant Vessels are Microscopic structure of the wood growth-rings are delimited by thick and flattened fibres These have been tangentially pressed often beyond recognition and look like radial single or in radial pairs could be seen Pits on Only grooves well-preserved portions the true size and distribution of the vessels When distinct, the pits the vessel walls are noticed with difficulty, as the majority of the vessels are crushed cells are usually well has not been noticed are minute, round to oval and crowded Parenchyma Tylosis preserved They are prominent against the background of the wood and are abundant Their distribution

varies
cell
1

from
,

wide

crystals

diffuse to reticulum with the rays, to almost concentric lines (pi 2) vertical sections Pith flecks present some cells conspicuous

-senate (rarely 2-seriate), heterogeneous, upright cells

1

These are mostly one Rays mostly are long and form the major part of the umsenate rays

XXXVm,

m one place

K A
XLVOI,

Chowdhury, 'An unproved method of toftening hard wood-tissues in hydrofluoric acid under
1934

pressure,'

Ann

Bot

106

ARJKAMEDU
horizontal cells small and difficult to be distinguished Fibres individually unrecognizable, small, rather thickwalled and packed in groups in between the parenchyma bands and rays They are non-septate From the nature of the structure, it appears to be a fine-textured, hard and timber

tough From the above it will be noticed that these ancient timbers cross-section resemble Identification Excaecarta agallocha, Mallotus spp , Trewia nudiflora, Sapium spp Diospyros and Maba spp But of these, only and Maba spp show the greatest affinity in all respects, e g. fibres, parenchyma cells, vessels and rays , Diospyros The ancient timber specimens are, therefore, identified as Diospyros and Moreover, the pits are also similar

Maba

spp

Specimen

No AK

11-552 (one piece)

Gross feature of the wood The specimen is about 3 inches x 2 inches in size and rather irregular in shape It is a Its colour is dark brown Growth rings indistinct Pores hardly visible to the eye diffuse-porous wood radial pairs of 2-5 (mostly 2-3) but distinct with a lens, small, Soft tissues hardly to just visible with a scattered the fibrous tissues visible with a lens, fine and equidistant lens, Rays

Microscopic structure of the wood growth rings indistinct , there is, however, a suggestion of growth marks at places due to flattened fibres and scanty pores Vessels small, mostly in radial pairs of 2-3, thick-walled , vessel perforation plate simple , pits on the walls small, numerous, round to oval and crowded tyloses absent Tracheids present close to the vessels, heavily pitted Parenchyma cells distinct, well-preserved, wider than fibres,
,

Fibres non-septate, narrow but generally scattered, also form irregular reticulum with the rays (pi XXXVTIT, 1) Fibres are not always well preserved and often the thickening thick-walled, lumen almost closed, closely packed of the cell wall difficult to determine, inter-fibre pits scanty or not seen Rays well preserved, closely spaced,
(b)

1-4 seriate (mostly 2) and heterogeneous, (a) uniseriate type consists entirely of upright or high cells, and multisenate type consists of both upright and horizontal cells, sometimes alternately arranged forming very
(pi

deep rays

vessels indicates affinity to Sapotaceae, Ebenaceae, Apocynaceae and But in the dense nature of the wood, small and very thick-walled fibres and the heterogeneous Rubiaceae it resembles most All the timbers of this family have been compared and the structure rays, closely Sapotaceae of the ancient wood shows greatest affinity to Mimusops It has, therefore, been identified as Mimusops spp
Identification

XXXVIII, 3) The arrangement of

Specimen

No AK 13-554

(two pieces)

Gross feature of the wood The specimens are fairly large (4 inches x 2 inches) and appear to be portions of a large tree The colour of the wood is dark red Growth rings indistinct // is a diffuse-porous wood Pores fairly large, visible to the eye, single or in radial pairs, uniformly distributed Soft tissues indistinct to the visible with a lens, fairly broad Rays only eye
Vessels medium-sized, round to oval, Microscopic structure of the wood growth rings inconspicuous Parenchyma cells conuniformly distributed, perforation plate simple, pits distinct, roundish and crowded spicuous by their uniform distribution and heavy deposits, often forming net-like structure with the rays, Fibres narrow, thick-walled, tangential band of parenchyma (2-3 cells) noticed in one place (pi XXXVUI, 4) In some portions fibre walls have been dissolved away, and cells have collapsed small lumened Rays fine to broad. 1-8 cells wide, sometimes twisted, showing up prominently due to profuse reddish-brown deposits Rays two types the short type is of equal height and forms irregular ripple-marks, the other very deep and broad. Ripple-marks inconspicuous Gum canals found in two places In one place large canals are of irregular three adjacent rows In another specimen they are small in size embedded in the tangential shape and occur

band of parenchyma
Identification

Malvaceae

On

with heavy deposits very deep and wide

This timber apparently belongs to the group Malvales, le Sterculiaceae, Tihaceae and comparison it shows most affinity with Heritiera having dense structure, parenchyma network Rays are of two types high and low the former forming the ripple-marks and the latter The timber is, therefore, identified as Heritiera spp

Fruit shells
identified as

The
nucifera)

pieces of fruit shells sent have been

examined and

probably portions of cocoanut (Cocos

and palmyra (Borassus flabellifer)

107

ANCIENT INDIA, NO.

5

General remarks

The wood specimens examined show that they represent portions of wood from three different trees, viz All these trees at present produce Diospyros spp (including Maba spp ), Mimusops spp and Hentiera spp well-known commercial timbers Diospyros and Maba, the former containing some very important and large forest trees, occur chiefly in South India, Ceylon, Bengal, Burma and the Andaman Islands , only a few species
extend to northern India

From a commercial point of view the wood is important and is commonly used for Moreover, the turnery and carving walking sticks, umbrella handles, inlay for furniture and fancy articles well-known black ebony comes from one of the timbers belonging to this group Mimusops are evergreen trees and are found on the east coast from the Kistna river southwards, in the Carnatic, ravines and hills , on the

Bombay to Travancore and also in Burma and the Andaman Islands. The timber is strong and durable and is commonly used for oil presses, tool handles, piles, ploughs, harrows, carts, boats, rice pounders and
west coast from
also for building and constructional purposes. Hentieras are usually associated with tidal and delta forests of India and are well represented in the Sunderbans, Chitlagong tidal forests, coast forests of Burma and

In South India the distribution is rather local they are found on the west coast of Cochin, the Andamans The Umber samples of Merit tera Tmnevelly, Travancore and perhaps also in the east coast in southern districts From this one is inclined to think that the which we have examined appear to come from a fairly large tree wood may not have been locally obtained This umber is extensively used for boat-building, agricultural implements, carts, constructional purposes, and fuel Our thanks are due to Messrs K. Tandon and Damar Singh of the Wood Technology Section, Forest

Research

Institute, for their

help

M.

MISCELLANEA

The post-Arretme layers in the Northern Sector yielded a very large number of sawn few conch-shells, possibly unfinished bangles, although no finished bangle was found pieces are crescent-shaped and may have been used as ear-ornaments (pi XXXIX) fragment of a bangle of amber-coloured glass, with lozenge-shaped impressions, alternately filled with dots and an oblique line, constitutes the only glass bangle found in 1945 It is from a superficial and unstratified deposit in the Southern Sector, and may post-date the urban occupation In the Pondicherry Bibhotheque are fragments of two

other glass bangles from the previous excavations (pi II IB, 8-9) The following objects are of uncertain use flat ring of crystalline quartz (fig 43, 6) Northern Sector, post-Arretme (1) section, divided into zones with parallel incised (2) long piece of ivory, elliptical

XXX

A A

(3)

Northern Sector, pre-Arretme Fragment of an ivory handle (?) of plano-convex section, divided into zones by raised bands, the sides containing at least two mortices, the intervening Found in the previous excavations, space decorated by rosettes (pi XXXV1B) now in the Pondicherry Bibliothque.
lines (fig 43, 7)

N.

Corns

coins were found in late post-structural deposits the Southern Sector (AK IV). One of them is corroded and without any details , the other one belongs to a well-known 1 third com, utterly defaced, was unstratified. type of Rajaraja Coja (A 985-1017).

Two

O.

PICTORIAL GRAFFITI ON POTSHERDS (PL XL)

52).
1
:

showing svastika pattern have already been noticed above (pp 49, Ankamedu has also yielded the following pictorial graffiti, all on sherds of pottery Type
graffiti
1

The

Cf The Superintendent, Elliot, Corns of Southern India, London, 1B86, p 133 and pi iv, 166 Government Museum, Madras, informs me that coins of this type are exceedingly common m the southern districts of the Madras Presidency.
108

To face page 108

PLATE XXXIX

Unfinished

s/ir//

handles

e 109

To

face

/>flg

PLATE XL

AR1KAMEDU
1 Standing human figure carved in intaglio From the post-Arretme phase of the Northern Sector (middle or second half of first century A D ) 2 Male figure standing facing with arms extended The figure is draped a loose garment (dhoti) and is apparently holding a bow From an unstratified deposit of the Northern Sector 3 Geometrical representation of a fish From Pottery Group A (Early Phase) of the Southern Sector (mid first century

AD)

P
is
1.

INSCRIBED POTSHERDS

The present excavations yielded eighteen potsherds bearing graffiti The opportunity taken to publish also two graffiti found previously by the French excavators
Date
Their associations indicate clearly that these belong to the

centuries

AD

graffiti

first

and second

Language

All save two of the graffiti which are capable of reconstruction are m Tamil, and are amongst the earliest known examples of that language Unfortunately their limitation to names and a few Tamil words robs them of value as a contnbution to the study of linguistic So far as can be determined, their language is akin to that of some fifty development short epigraphs found engraved on rocks at natural rock-shelters in South India, especially in the Districts of Madura and Tmnevelly 2 The exact nature of the language of these inscriptions is still open to question, but they appear to be in Early Tamil (as distinguished from the Tamil found in the early Tamil literature, as well as modern Tamil), with a sprinkling of Prakrit They have been dated to the third and second centuries B C but on grounds which are largely theoretical, in contradistinction to the dating of the Ankamedu sherds which is objective and secure Dr N P Chakravarti adds the following comment: At first sight the script found on the graffiti from Ankamedu appears to belong to the first or second century B C when compared with the script of other Brahmi inscriptions, On the other hand, the date of the pottery as indiparticularly those found in the north cated by its association with dated antiquities, is of the first century A D or near date The reason for this discrepancy is not, however, far to seek The script of the Ankamedu pottery and the early rock-shelters of the Madura and Tmnevelly Distncts seems to be more akin to the ancient Dr5vi<JI script than the regular Brahmi as found in We also know that the Dravnji scnpt the edicts of ASoka and other early inscriptions must have separated from the main stock of Brahmi much earlier than the time of ASoka,
4

(Buhler, "Indian Palaeography", Indian Antiquary, undoubtedly the reason why so many archaic forms are The development of noticed in the few inscriptions so far known in the Dravi<J! scnpt forms after separation could not be so fast in Dravi<}T as in the regular Brahmi, which If we bear this point in mind it would continued to be used throughout the whole of India not be unreasonable to assume that, though the script of the Ankamedu graffiti appears to be similar to the script of Brahmi inscriptions of the first and second centuries B C it
at the latest in the fifth century p. 8)

BC

XXXIII, appendix,

This

is

based upon reports from Dr fl C Chhabra, the Government Epigraphist, Dr N P Chakravarti, his predecessor in the office, Mr K V Subrahmanya Aiyer, and Mr Lakshmmarayan Rao * Krishna Sastn Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference, 1920, pp 327-48 ,
1

This section

is

K V

Subrahmanya Aiyer,

iforf,

1924,

pp 275-300
109

Fio 45
110

AR1KAMEDU
If this assumption is correct then the soactually should be relegated to a later period called discrepancy between the palaeographic and the archaeological evidence would seem to disappear."

Palaeography (see table, fig. 45) (i) Comparison with the Mamandur inscription (ascribed conjecturally to the third century B C.) shows a general similarity in the characters. In this inscription, ma is of the angular variety, but at Ankamedu it is a loop with a
cross-bar, as in the &ittannav5&al and other cavern inscriptions straight line at Ankamedu and in the cavern inscriptions of Madura

but in the Mamandur record it is a slightly zigzag line the same shape in both (11) The characters of the Ankamedu graffiti closely resemble the cavern inscriptions (pi facing page 57 of the Annual Report on South Indian Epigraphy for 1912, pi facing p 86, ibidem for 1915; pi facing p 7, ibidem for 1918), with the following exception the
letter la

The letter ra is a mere and Tinnevelly districts, The other letters have practically

the almost
graffiti

has a more circular form in the cavern inscriptions, whilst at Ankamedu it has modern open form This is a point in favour of a later date for the Ankamedu

(in) The Ankamedu characters are closely comparable with those of the Bhaftiproju ' (Kistna District) Brahmi inscriptions, which' are conjecturally dated by Buhler to the tune immediately after As"oka or about 200 B C (Epigraphia Indica, II, 329) (iv) The Ankamedu inscriptions may further be compared with the HathibSda and Ghosuno'! mscnptions (Epigraphia Indica, XXII, 199ff , and XVI, 25ff), attnbuted by ' * Dr Bhandarkar to the beginning of the first century B C Slight differences are

D R

and Ghosun<JI mscnptions the arms of a on the left are a little round, while in the Ankamedu mscnptions they are angular In the former the cross-bar of ka is drawn above the centre of the vertical line, but in the latter it is at or a little below the centre In the former the bottom of pa is a little angular, while in the latter it is fully round the latter In the former the letter ma has a more developed shape than The letter va has a flattened base in the former.
In the Hathib5<Ja

4.

Transliteration (see figs. 46, 47

1

pi

XLI)
and cannot be
.

AK

1-67 contains traces of six letters which are broken

definitely

made out 2 AKI-127

3.

AK IV- 198
*of

Reading
This
is

is

n\ clearly OBpiyamakar, meaning 'the dear son of It reads Yokhamitasa, one of the two PrSknt mscnptions

meaning
4.

(Skt. Yakshamitra)' do not dovetail into each other but may be portions of the same inscription The smaller piece contains four letters from the The third symbol, which also beginning and reads Stanka, which cannot be interpreted is read as ga by Dr. Chhabra, while Mr Subrahmanya occurs at the end of the bigger piece, Aiyer takes it to be an earlier form of na The bigger piece consists of nine symbols which may be read as cha na cha na te no ba t& that Dr. Chhabra reads the fifth letter as fa, but (or ti) ga but cannot be interpreted. case the horizontal stroke occurring on the top of this letter will be superfluous and has to be explained. This symbol as well as the last three letters of this fragment are all new to the southern Brahmi scnpt, and their exact phonetic value must await determination 5 Mr. Aiyer reads as TavapiQlar, which appears to be a personal name 11-69.

Yakhamita

AK 1-168 Two inscribed pieces, which

AK

ill

r
r c
f
13

10

FIG 46

Graffiti

on pottery.

112

ARIKAMEDV

FlG 47

Graffiti

on potter\

Aiyer reads these two letters as <zvi, which indicates a personal name The vowel a here has a cursive form 7 11-533 contains four symbols which appear to be only potter's marks 8 11-562 reads Aman, which is a personal name 9 * 11-571 Reading is Chattan Avi ifi koti Ichan Aditaipap The word koti seems to denote some relationship (Skt jotrm ?) which is preceded and followed by a proper name and may be translated as Ichan Aditaipan, a relation of Chattan Avi' This record introduces a new form of f and also shows a mark of punctuation at the end 10 11-576. The extant portion reads -ttaa and indicates the end of a personal
11-432

AK

Mr

AK AK AK

AK

name
out.

11.

Not

AK 111-67 contains remnants of three or four letters too fragmentary to be

illustrated

made

12 111-89 Mr Aiyer reads this as ra chntam and Dr Chhabra as ra chinabhama. sense can however be made of either reading 13 IV- 120 Reading is $a ra ti ka fa ka ka Except the two kas the other letters are doubtful, but this inscription has its value as the final symbol showing kka would certainly suggest that the language is Tamil 14. IV- 194 contains two crude symbols which may be potter's marks 15 IV- 199. Reads MutikuluraQ akal, meaning 'the wide-mouthed pot of

AK

No

AK

AK AK

Mutikuluran'.
113

ANCIENT IN
16.
17.

18

AK IV-277. AK VII-27. AK V-117.

Reading is -n kaikolar, meaning '. .. n the weaver*. -^ Reading is -ittirQma or -Hirami, the end of a personal name. "*v t ** Three letters reading butta, i e. the Tamil form of Buddha, Hir
*

name of a woman Found in 19

Tamil.

the French excavations, and now in the Pondicherry Bibliotheque 7 Reading seems to be ..... ntva vaittatai kotn rdalu ( ) and may mean 'having carved that bestowed by which was gteva '. The sense is not certain though the language is decidedly
in the French excavations, and now in the Pondicherry Bibliotheque. 4 YaduC^-valabhutaya pan and the meaning seems to be. (This is) the platter ' PGtri (Skt ) or pdtti (Pali) means *a shallow of Yaduvalabhuta (Yadubalabhuta) (p&tri) vessel', and the shape of the inscribed sherd is in conformity with this Prof Nilakantha Sastn, who has published this inscription in the Journal of the Madras University (XIV, 3-4), takes pan in the sense of 'husband' or a contracted form of pantha'vita But the sense here suggested by Dr Chhabra is perhaps correct ('established ') The second letter in this inscription is not certain but the language is decidedly Prftknt. It is not certain whether the name of the lady was 'Yadubalabhuta' or 'Balabhuta of the Yadu family *.

20.

Found

Reading

is

Q
The Northern Sector, particularly producmg strata (see above, p 22),

BONES

human ones

the deposits of estuarme slime below the Arretmeyielded a large number of bones, including three report on their examination is given below
REPORT ON HUMAN AND ANIMAL REMAINS

By B

CHATTERJEE and

H K

BOSE, Anthropological Survey Laboratory

As the gallery specimens and disarticulated bones of different animals of various ages preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, were not available for comparison due to war conditions, a thorough examination of the bones submitted for report was not possible, and the work had to be restricted to the identification of individual
bones with their respective Order and Species The degree of mineralization of the bones vanes in the individual specimens Thus, in specimens 13, 33, 34 the process of mineralization has gone to a considerable extent, 8, 10, 11 and 12 it is appreciably less, whereas in the rest it has only commenced The full extent of mineralization, however, can only be determined a thorough chemical examination by Apart from human relics, the animals identified include the following (1) fowl, (2) turtle, (3) boar, and In some (4) cow, all edible animals, but it is difficult to determine the extent to which they were used as such cases, however, there arc marks of a sharp implement on the bone Most of the long bones such as femur, humerus and tibia, and other smaller bones such as mctacarpaJ, metatarsal, phaliange and calcanmm, were found intact, the reconstructed skull of a boar (No 4 below) and a few others, together with all the human bones, were fragmentary

Classification

of bones

'

Class

Aves Order Gallmae

Genus
1

Callus ferrugmeus *

Left femur of a fowl, complete

1

All the bones enumerated below were

from the pre-Arretinc layers of the Northern Sector, unless otherwise specified Blanford, The Fauna of Brituh India, Birds (1*9*), IV, 75

114

PLATE XLI

Inscribed pot \herds

Class

Reptilia

Order
Family

Cheloma
Tnonychidae
Lisscmys punctata (Bonnaterre)
turtle

Genus
Small fragment of the carapace of a

Class

Mammalia
Carnivore

Order

Family

Sudae
Sus cristatus
*

Genus
3

4
5

From a postArretinc layer Mandible of a boar almost complete with two incisors, three premolars and three molars on the left side and one incisor and a portion of a canine and three molars on the right From a post-Arretme layer Portion of the left side of the lower jaw with two molars From an Arretine-producing layer
mandible of a boar with two molars and one premolar
Small fragment of the lower jaw with impressions of the roots of teeth From a post-Arretme layer Portion of the right side of upper jaw with two molars and one premolar

Fragment of the

right side of the

6
7

Class

Mammalia
Ungulata

Order
8

9
10
1 1

12 13

14
1

16
17

18

19

20
21

22 23 24 25

26
27 28 29
30.

* Family Bos mdicus hnnaeus Complete right humerus Fragment of the distal end of humerus Complete humerus Complete humerus of a young individual From an Arretme-producing layer Almost complete humerus of a young individual From an Arretme-producing layer Almost complete left scapula after reconstruction From a post-Arretme layer Fragment of the head of a scapula From an Arretme-producing layer Fragment of a scapula of a very young mdi\ idual Fragment of the proximal end of the third and fourth metacarpal Almost complete third and fourth metacarpal of a young individual From a post-Arretme Portion of the third and fourth metacarpal of a young individual Almost complete right femur after reconstruction From an Arretme-producmg layer Almost complete left tibia Complete third and fourth metatarsal Almost complete third and fourth metatarsal of a young mdiv idual Second phallangc of the hind leg Premolar tooth with broken roots From an Arretme-producmg layer Molar tooth, roots partially broken From a post-Arretme layer Almost complete incisor tooth

layer

Incisor, roots

broken
layer

31

32

very young individual Almost complete vertebrae of the hinder part of an adult individual From an Arretme-producmg Small fragment of a vertebra Fragment of a rib of an adult individual From an Arretine-producing layer Mark of a sharp implement present Fragment of a pelvis (?)

Calcanmm of a

G A
Jodaro and
*
9

o&\ Memoirs of tit

and Batrachia (1890), p Boulcngcr, The Fauna of British India, Reptilia No 51 (Delhi, 1936), p 14 , Archaeological Survey of India,
I,

17

R B

Prashad, "Animal Remains from S Sewell and B S Guha in Moken-

T
,

tht Indus Civilization II (London, 1931), p 663 Blanford, The Fauna of British India, Mammalia (1888-91),

560

Ibid

p 483

115

ANCIENT L
Class

Mammalia

Order Primates Sub-Order Amhropoidae

Family
33

Hommadae

<4-

34

human mandible of an adult with two canines, four incisors, two molars and one m6T * From an Arretine-producing layer with its cusps highly eroded From a Fragment of a left human mandible with two prcmolars and two molars of a young individual
Fragment of a
left

post-Arretine layer

35

Fragment of the shaft of a human

fibula

Both ends broken

From an

Arretine layer

APPENDICES
APPENDIX
I

Roman

coins, first century

BC

to fourth century

found

India

and Ceylon

Opportunity is taken to print a revised list of identified Roman coins found in India and Ceylon, and to add a map (fig 48), on which Ankamedu is also indicated although no Roman coins have yet been found there The map emphasizes afresh the remarkable

extent of the contact of South India with the western world during the Roman pnncipate, It would appear that the implying incidentally a full use of the south-western monsoon Roman traders found the smaller South Indian kingdoms more amenable or accessible

than the large and powerful Andhra kingdom of the centre, although the latter, with its abundant mineral resources, may be supposed to have taken some part in the business, and indirect cultural contacts with the Mediterranean (notably in the form of clay or metal bullae based vaguely on Roman coinage) are discovered there from time to time
first

A notable feature of the map is the great cluster of coins, particularly hoards, of the in the Coimbatore district of the South This may be partially explained century by the ancient beryl mines in the district (p 123), but it is probably more significant that at this point the Eastern Ghats swing westwards and terminate upon the line of the Western Ghats, and that the valley of the Ponnani carries a natural trans-peninsular highway This highway must have provided a useful alternative immediately south of the abutment to the long coastwise route between the Malabar and Coromandel ports, although the the broken country of the numerous coin-hoards suggest that it was not free from peril divide

AD

COIN

LIST

Bihar
1

BamanghatI, Smgbhum Dist (between Chaibasa and Balasore, on the mam road from the port of Tamluk on the Hughli) Hoard of gold coins, including running A Cunningham, Archl Survey Rep , XIII (1882), 72 Gordian (d A 244).

Bombay Presidency
2

Nwn Chron. Dharphul, Sholapur Dist 18aurei,Commodus Severus(</ A 211). 1st S ,V (1843), 202, Bombay Gazette, Jan 31, 1842, W. Elliot in Madras Journ. of Lit andSc, XIII (1844), 215

* T Blanford, The Fauna of British India, Skeleton (Sidney, 1913), p 47

Mammalia,

(1889-91), 3, Reynolds, The Vertebrate

list

* 1

gladly acknowledge help from

Mr T G

Aravamuthan
116

the revision of this

DISTRIBUTION OF

ROMAN COIN5
IST
,t>*

APIKAMEDU

2ND CENT 3RD-4TH C

o

2ND

CENT AD. HOARD A D HOARD AD HOARD CENT AD SINGLE CENT AD SINGLE

HEIGHTS ABOVE MOO FEET

X 3RD-4THC

AD

SINGLE

ANCIENT
3

4.

Nagdhara, Jalalpur Tk , Surat Dist. Aureus of Lucius Verus (A Codrington in Journ. of the Bombay Branch of the Roy. Asiatic Soc , 30-8 Waghoda, Raver Tk., East Khandesh Dist. Aureus of the Seven (A.0.

Codnngton

in

J.BB.R.A

5.,

XVIII (1890-4), 38

Central Provinces
5

Chajerbedha, Bilaspur Dist supplied through Mr. T

2 aurei of

Commodus

(d

AD

192)

Information

Aravamuthan

Madras Presidency
6.

Athirala, Pullampet
in

Tk , Cuddapah Dist Aureus of Trajan (d A D Madras Journ of Lit. and Sc 1844, pp 214-5, and in Ind Ant
,

17)

Elliot

7.

Denarius of Augustus (d Coimbatore Dist ofLit andSc XIII (1884), 214 Num Chron
, ,

AD
I

241-2 Elliot in Madras Journ 14) 9 (1843-4), 162 , J Bird

II (1873),

mJBB.RAS
,

8
9.

10.

2 denarii of Tiberius (d. A D 37). Madras Mus A Rep 1912, Dist. PP 4, 9. 23 Roman gold coins, ending with Gumada, Jeypore Tk, Vizagapatam Dist Madras Mus A Rep 1928, p 4 Constantine the Great (d A.D 337) Kahyamputtur, Madura Dist (near boundary of Madura and Coimbatore Dist ) 63 gold coins in a pot, Augustus Nerva (d A D 98) Madras Journ of Lit and Sc XVII (1856-71 114, and XIX (1857-58), 157-8

1 (1883),

293ff

Counbatore

11.
12.

Six aurei, latest of Kanvalamvandanallur, Sankaran Koyil Tk , Tinnevelly Dist Madras Mus A Rep 1933, p 5 Hadrian of A D 118 About 500 coins, Augustus-- Tiberius (d A D 37) a Karur, Tnchinopoly Dist H Little Madras Christian College Mag, I (1883), 219-26; Madras Mus pot
,

13
14. 15.

16

17.

W. Elliot Karur, Tnchinopoly Dist 5 aurei, including one of Claudius (d A D 54) in Madras Journ of Lit andSc , XIII (1884), 214 Aureus of Marcus Aurehus (d A.D 180). R Sewell in Karur, Tnchinopoly Dist JR .4 S, 1904, p. 617 Hoard of aurei, Augustus Claudius (d A Karuvur, Coimbatore Dist 54). Thurston, Madras Gov Mus. Cat Coins No 1 (1874), p 1 No 2 (1888), p. 8 Madras Journ of Lit andSc XIII (1884), p 214. Karuvur, Coimbatore Dist Large hoard of denarii, Augustus Tiberius (d A 37), in a pot Thurston, Madras Gov Mus Cat Coins No 2 (1888), p 21 Madras Christian College Mag October, 1883, pp 219ff 233 denarii, Augustus Tiberius Kattanganni, Dharapuram Tk., Coimbatore Dist

A Rep

1893,

pp

6-7

(d
18.
19.

AD

37)

Madras Mus
,

A Rep

1913,

pp

4, 8

20.

Kotpad, Jeypore Tk Vizagapatam Dist. 4 Roman denarii, Augustus Tibenus (d A D. 37) Madras Mus. A Rep , 1915, pp 5, 6. Kottayam, Malabar Dist Large hoard of aurei, Augustus Nero (d. A D. 68) J.ASB,XX (1851), 371-87; R. Caldwell, A Description of Roman Imperial Aurei found near Calicut, Trivandrum (1851); Madras Mus. A. Rep., 1882, p 5. Aureus of Theodosius Kulattuppalaiyam, Dharapuram Tk., Coimbatore Dist
(d

AD

395)

Madras Mus A. Rep.

1934.

21

Madura town
Mus.

11

Roman

A Rep,

gold coins ending with Nero, dated

5, 8.

A D.

61-2.

Madras

1917, pp. 4,

118

R
o.

Stray finds of copper coins, including Hononus and Arcadms (c Sewell, List of the Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of Madras, I

Dist Aureus of Domitian (d A.D 96) Madras Gov Mus Cat. Coins, 2(1 894), p 29 MahSbahpuram, Chmgleput Dist Com of Theodosius (d A D. 395) J Pnnsep in F

JA.S.B.,l(m2),W6
25.

MahSbahpuram, Chmgleput

Dist.

Com possibly
A Rep Roman
,

of Theodosius, late fourth century.

2-4, 5
(d.

26
27. 28.

Arch Sur India, Southern Circle, 4 Mallayapalem, Guntur Dist

1888,
aurei,

pp

29
30
31

32

33

Madras Mus A Rep 1915, pp 4, Mambalam, Madras city Com of Augustus (d A D 14) Madras Mus A Rep 1930, p 6, and 1931, p 2 Kistna Dist. Gold com of Hadrian (d A D. 138). NagaTjunikono'a, Palnad Tk Arch Sur India A Rep 1936-7, p 61 Nandyal, Kurnool Dist Upwards of 52 gold corns, ending with Antoninus Pius Madras Mus A Rep 1935, p 5 (d A.D 161), in a pot Nellor Hoard of Roman coins in a pot, latest recorded a com of Antoninus Pius Davidson in Asiatic Researches, II (1790), 331-2 (d A D 161) Hoard of coins of which two gold sohdi of Nero and Ongole Tk Guntur Dist Hadrian (d A D 138) are recorded Madras Mus A Rep 1905, pp 5 and 8 Elliot in Madras Journ of Denarius of Augustus Pennar, Coimbatore Dist Lit and Sc XIX (1888), 228 Hoard of denarii in a pot, said to be Augustus Tiberius Pollachi, Coimbatore Dist Indian Antiquary, IV (1875), 302, F Buchanan, A Journey from 37) (d
161)
,
,

AD

ending with Antoninus Pius 5, 6

AD

Madras,
34
35 36

II

(1807), 318-9
,

Sahhundam, Chicacole Tk Vizagapatam Dist Madras Mus A Rep 1899, pp 5, 9

,

11 denarii

of Tiberius (d

AD

37).

Tanjore.
1937,

Silver-washed

com

of Diocletian (d
,

AD
,

305)

Madras Mus A Rep

37

38.

p 7 6 Roman gold coins, Tondamanathan, Cuddalore Tk South Arcot District Madras Mus A Rep 1918, pp 3, 7 Tiberius -Nero (d A D 68) A find of silver denarii', Madras Mus A. Rep 1891, Vellalur, Coimbatore Dist Madras Mus Catalogue of 1891, pp 199-202 p. 8, E Thurston in Num Chron Cows No 2(1894),p 24 Madras Mus. 121 denaru of Augustus (d A D 14) Vellalur, Coimbatore Dist
4 ,
,

39.

A Rep., 1932, pp 8, 9 Vellalur, Coimbatore Dist W. Elliot in Madras Journ

I (1843), 294.

522 denarii, Augustus Claudius (d A D 54) in a pot ofLit andSc XIII (1844), 212-4 J Bird in / B B R A S ,
, ,
,

40.

41.

Denarius of Tiberius (d Vidiyadurrapuram, Bezwada Tk Kistna Dist Arch Sur of India, Southern Circle, A Rep 1888, pp 2-^, 5 Vinukonda, Guntur Dist. 15 Roman gold coins, ending with Caracalia (d Num. Chron 3rd S , IX (1889), 325-8
,

AD
AD

37)
217).

Punjab,
42.

N-W

Frontier Province

and Afghanistan

In the Ahin Posh stupa, with Kushan coins, were 3 Roman Jalalabad, Afghanistan Waterhouse in Pr of the Asiatic 161) aurei, the latest of Antoninus Pius (d F Soc. of Bengal (1879), pp 77-9, Hoernle, Ib., pp 122,134-5.

AD R

119

43. 44.

45

46

Mamkyftla, Rawalpindi Dist Punjab. 5 aura, latest of A.D. 158-9. in Pr. A.S.B , LIII (1886), 86-9. MaiukySlft, Rawalpindi Dist, Punjab. 7 worn Republican denan A. Cou century B C, with Kushan corns of first-second century of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, III (1834), 558-9 , J. Pnnsep, Ib., 564-5 ; A. Cunnin Ib , 635-7. -W Frontier Hoard of denarii, the latest known being one of Pakli, Hazara Dist Hadrian (d A.D 137). Num Chron 3rd S XIX (1889), 263. Denarius of Tiberius (d A Arch Sur Taxila, Rawalpindi Dist., Punjab 37) India A Rep , 1935, pp 29-30, 83
,

AD

United Provinces

47
48. 49.

50
51

J A S B , I (1 832), 476 Allahabad J Pnnsep Coins of Diocletian (A D 283-93) Chunar, Mirzfipur Dist Copper com of Numenanus (A.D 283) J Pnnsep in JASB,l (1832), 392-408, 476 Kanauj, Kanauj Tk Farrukhabad Dist Copper com of Diocletian (A.D. 283-93) H H Wilson in Asiatic Researches, XVII, 561 J Pnnsep in J A S B., I (1832), 476 Mathura (Muttra) Gold com of Caracalla (d A D 217). Information from Curator of Curzon Museum, MathurS Com of Carinus, minted A D 283-4 J A S B I (1 832), 392-408, 476 Mirzapur
, , ,

Cochin State
52
Eyyal, 22 miles

of Tnchur. Found on the slope of a hill east of the village 1 945 12 gold coins of Trajan (Cos II), 1 Nero, 2 ; Claudius, 1 , Tibenus, 8 About 50 silver coins, late Republican Augustus Also about 12 silver punch-marked coins, with some unstamped pieces of silver Date of , the Roman silver and the punch-marked coins are much worn, deposit, c 100 A whereas the aurei are fresh Information and photographs from the State

N -W
D

m an earthenware pot,

Archaeologist, Cochin State-

Hyderabad State
53
Gaiparti, Sunapet

Tk

Pius and dated

1933,

AD

Nalgonda Dist
140-4.

3 Roman gold coins, latest of Antoninus A. Report of Arch Surv of the Nizam's Dominions,

pp

7,

39

Mysore State
54
55.

56.

Denarius of Augustus (d A.D. 23) Arch. Surv. Mysore Chandravalh, Chitaldrug Tk A.Rep,\W9,p 30 Chandravalh, Chitaldrug Tk. At least two denarii of Tiberius were found here in 'Excavation 15' in 1929 and are now the Mysore Museum They have not been Excavation at published, but there is apparently a reference to one of them Chandravalh, Supplement to the Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department. 1929 (pub. 1931), p. 25 Yaswantpur, Bangalore Dist. 163 denarii, Augustus Claudius (d. A.D 54), in a pot. L Rice, Find of Roman Coins near Bangalore (1891), and E Thurston, Madras Govt Mus. Cat. Coins No. 2 (1894), pp 26-8.

120

Pudukkottai State
:unochi, Alangudi Tk Hill in Chron , III,

mm

Hoard of aurei, ending with Vespasian (d

XVIII
(1898), 304-20,

G G

AD
III,

79)

Rodgers, Ib

XIX

263-5
Travancore State

58

Poonjar, about 150 miles north of Tnvandrum

Early
59.

first

century

AD

Gold com of Augustus, found 1945

Ceylon

60
61

Com of Arcadius (d A D 408) Ampitiya Anuradhapura. Coins of Theodosius, Arcadius and Indo-Roman coins
places.

in

various

62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
71

Mannar Dist Constantius, Theodosius and Arcadius Coins of Aurehan and Arcadius Hoard of fourth century coins down to Arcadius Balapittya Batticaloa 5 coins of Arcadius and Hononus (d 423) Boragoda 40 coins, Constantius II Hononus
Attikuh, Badulla

AD

Colombo Many coins, Constantme II Hononus Gmtota 6 of Constantme II, Arcadius and Hononus 17 coins, Constantius II Arcadius Hikkaduwa Arcadius or Hononus Kalmunai, Eastern Provinces Com of Hononus Kalpitiya
Coins of Theodosius and Arcadius 220 coins, Constantme I Kolugala, in Turpana Coins of Nero and Vespasian Kurunegala Dist Mantota Antonine coins Matara Com of Maximian II

72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Kantarodm, Kitalagama

m Jaffna peninsula

150 fourth century bronze

down

to

Hononus

Hononus

Pandmppu, Eastern
Siginya

Province.

fourth century

com
II

Pidankulam, Giant's Tank

Coins of Gratian and Valentmian

or Theodosius

1,675 fourth century corns

Udappu.

Hononus Coins of Theodosius and Arcadius or Hononus

down
to

APPENDIX

II

2 Semi-precious stones

(Map,

fig

49)

precious stones, diamonds, rubies and sapphires were obtained in India for the Roman market the first presumably from the Cuddapah and Kuraool system of the Deccan and the Vmdhyan system of the centre rubies probably from Ceylon, Salem and central India sapphires also from Ceylon, southern India, and possibly Rewa Mysore Indian pearls, fished More extensive was the trade Salem and the upper Godavarl between Ceylon and the mainland, where chiefly in the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, the port of Kolkhoi served as a primary depot.

Of

of the Royal

and J Still in the Journ Ceylon Coins and Currency (Colombo Museum, 1924) Soc (Ceylon Branch), XIX (1907) Information from the Geological Survey of India, and from J Coggm Brown, India's Mineral Wealth
Sec H.

W. Codnngton,

Asiatic

(Oxford, 1936),

pp

283ff
121

DISTRIBUTION

OF

SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES
CHALCE.DON1C

QUARTZ

CRYSTALLINE QUAIJTZ

DEBYL

FlO 49
122

Bu these precious materials have not yet been recorded Hu There, apart most extensively used for the manufacture of beads and Beryl, though mined anciently and within easy pan crystalline quartz p dually been identified at Arikamedu, but the omission may be accidental cur in a number of sub-varieties, of which agate, caraehan, onyx, jasper, [id amethyst are the commonest They are of widespread occurrence in India but, save for a prolific area in Gujarat, tend to concentrate on the eastern slopes and foot-hills of the great central massif, and may thus have been a factor in the extension Roman trade up the east coast The pnncipal source of beryl was at Padyur in the of Coimbatore District, which lies conveniently near the divide between the eastern and Indeed the valley of the Cauvery or Kaveri river, listed by Ptolemy as western coasts the Khaberos, links it directly with his 'Khabens emponon', identifiable with Kaverippattmam or Puhar, at the mouth of the river some 60 miles south of Arikamedu It is probably significant that more early Roman Imperial coins have been found in the Coimbatore District than in any other part of India (see p 1 16)

llay, the substances

The main sources of these semi-precious

1

stones are as follows

Chalcedonic quartz

Agate, carnehan, onyx and jasper occur largely in the amygdaloidal lava flows of the Deccan and Rajmahal Trap The most important centres are in Gujarat, but the stones occur also m Kathiawar, Kashmir, Bihar, and near Guntur in the Madras Presidency

The pnncipal

sites

are

Cambay and Ahmedabad

Rajpipla State KathiSwar (Tankara, Morvl State, Khokhri, Latipur, Badampur, Khakra) Kashmir (Kyamgo Traggar) Hyderabad State (freely in the Deccan Trap) Madras Presidency (alluvium of Kistna river near Guntur, and in the Godavari near Rajahmundry). Sunder State (Jaipur near Timappaghur)

Ceylon
2
Crystalline quartz

Rock-crystal, cairngorm, cat's eye

and amethyst occur notably as follows Punjab (Aurangpur, Mianwah, KalSbagh and Bashahar) Katniawar (Tankara, State)

Mom

Jaipur State (Nawai). Tonk State (Hathuna)

Rajpipla State.

Onssa (Sambalpur)
Central Provinces (Chindwara, Khairi). Hyderabad State (Warangel). Madras Presidency (Godavari near Rajahmundry, Vizagapatam, Tanjore, Sanda-

mandapuram)
Ceylon
3. Beryl, which, with its bluish-green variety, aquamarine, may be ranked above the quartzes as a gem-stone, was, as mentioned above, long mined near Coimbatore in the Madras Presidency. It occurs also elsewhere, notably in mica-bearing pegmatites at

123

ANC1E*
Govmdsagar, Kishangarh Melkot (Mysore State)
State, in

Rajput&na, near Nellor (Madras Presi

APPENDIX

III

The ancient name of Ankamedu

^4fci**T * after referring to Kolkhis or Kprkai, 4*& aflcient near the southern end of India, mentions the three principal marfots and pearl-port anchorages to which resorted the merchants of 'Limunke', probably the region otherwise known as 'Dammka' (the Peutmger Table) and Dimirica" (the Ravenna Geographer) 4 the order and etymologically equivalent to the Tamil-land The three ports, which we have named them' (from the context, south to north), are Komora, Podouke, and Sopatma. Ptolemy (VII, 1, s 14), after referring to 'the mouth of the river KhabSros', clearly the Kaveri, and Khabens emponon, which may safely be identified with K&veripatnam or KSverippattmam, the modern Tranquebar, familiar in Tamil literature as a port frequented by foreign merchants (see above, p 19), mentions Sabouras emponon (unidentified) and Podouke emponon He also is working northwards, so that Pddouke must be somewhere to the north of Kaveripatnam Whether, as Muller suggested, Ptolemy's Khabe'ns should be equated with the Kamara of the Penplus is less certain but the Sopatma of the Penplus has with some plausibility been identified with the So-paftmam of Tamil literature, the modern Markanam, on the coast between Pondicherry and Madras 1 All that can be inferred from this is that the geographical position of Ankamedu (Pondicherry) is consistent with the general indications given for Podouke or Podouke by The site lies 60 miles north of Tranquebar and 20 miles south of the Penplus and Ptolemy Markanam. Moreover, Pondicherry is a European corruption of Pudu-chche'ri* meaning 'Newtown', and it can at least be claimed that the Greek Podouke is as near to this as is the

The Penplus of the Erythraean Sea,

modern French Pondichery

There the evidence at present ends But the new identification of a Roman emporium in the immediate vicinity of Pondicherry gives a fresh and perhaps conclusive weight to the
equation of Podouke with Pondicherry which has already been suggested by more than one
writer
1

1
8

K Nilakanta Sastn, The Cdfas (University of Madras, 1935), I, 30 Hobson-Jobson cites an English reference to the place in 1680 with the spelling' Puddtcherry' See Schoff, The Penplus of the Erythraean Sea (London, etc , 1912), p 242

W H

124

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PLANNING FOR INDIA: SOME OF THE FACTORS

Address given by the Director General of Archaeology in India to the ology and Archaeology at the Bangalore meeting of the Indian Science ry 1946 y and here reprinted by permission, deals briefly with certain of the factors wn^^all for consideration in the planning of archaeology as an organized science in India. Although the ideal solution of the problem would be the establishment of a properly equipped Indian Institute of Archaeology on the general lines of some of the American institutes, much could be done by the coordination and development of existing facilities Until one or other of these advances has been achieved, it will not be possible for archaeological research in India to attain the high international position which the astonishing wealth of India's cultural heritage both justifies and demands
^ial
this room to-day congress of scientists such as that which has brought us together has diverse duties and uses It is a focus of academic gossip, a bazaar of ideas and But if it is to fulfil its task aspirations, a shop- window of recent achievement It is above all a representative worthily, it is at the same time something more than that Few of the many To-day, the world is full of planning-committees planmng-committee plans will achieve actuality, and, of those that do, fewer can be expected to achieve their mountain which produces real intention Let us not on that account cease to plan only a mouse is livelier than a mountain which produces nothing at all I ask therefore that for the next three-quarters of an hour we indulge in a little serious The other day I had occasion to remark to a committee of the Central planning Legislature that, as an archaeologist, 1 was concerned with the future rather than with the In India, archaeology and I was gently corrected, but my words were correct past There have been archaeologists anthropology have admittedly all too little behind them and anthropologists in this country, but no coherent science of archaeology and anthropology western Asia, has ever been established here, such as has been partially established Europe and in America or such as was growing up in China before the barbarous devastation of that country in the name of progress Indian humanistic science has been relegated It is time not only But the future of India is now close upon us largely to the future to plan but to act If we are to plan and to act with a whole mind and heart, we must begin from an To narrow the issue, unreserved conviction that what we are doing is really worth while are archaeology and anthropology worth while 9 What indeed is the function of these

sciences 9

They are sciences of interpretation What then do an endless succession of unique achievements of the human brain, unique reactions of the human consciousness to a multitude of combining or Let me emphasize that word 'unique' History never repeats conflicting circumstances itself. Its are, each of them, the product of momentary conditions imposed by episodes geographical and geological environment, climate, 'race', tradition, 'accident', a hundred and one factors which, added to the incalculable qualities of the human spirit itself, can never be expected to recur identical form in the lifetime of mankind They are each of them unique. The Altamira cave-paintings, the Parthenon, Chartres Cathedral, the Aiantii caves, the great temple of Tanjore, the Taj Mafcai, are each expressions of a Zeitgeist which is insusceptible to repetition, unique.

The answer

is

not

difficult

they interpret?

They

interpret

125

AN CI1
But there is more to it than that. I have just spoken of 'episodes' That is a convenient but misleading word. The term ^episode* sug_ The episodic treat mef-j incidental detachment which does not in fact exist. necessary artifice in the educational curriculum, but requires constant and spti At the^'i Without its context, the episode lacks perspective and significance the obvious, I suggest a simple analogy. Suppose that all the words y. book were loose, and that by shaking the page I could shake them into a/ , 1** fl ** vwu All the words, the 'episodes', would be there, but their sequence and the t Some system, some discipline, is required to rearrar^S *?iin their be completely lost In the tumbled episooes of human significant sequence and so to restore their meaning history and prehistory that is the task of the humanistic sciences of the historian, the Their final function is the coordination of the works archaeologist, the anthropologist of man and the interpretation of these as an articulated and significant entity their task, or a part of it, is to restore the fallen words to the page of the book, so that he who runs
<

^
,

'

may

read

it may, I suppose, be said that we, in our study of the works and days of man, have a twofold mission to fulfil We must first set ourselves to analyze the individual works themselves with the patient objectiveness of the scientist, and secondly, we must attempt to interrelate them, place them in their wider human context, and re-endow them, in short, with something of the three-dimensional vitality which created them In the one role we are cold and calculating scientists, in the other we have or should have someBut let it be emphasized that the thing of the imaginative comprehension of the artist sequence of thought and effort is strictly in that order first analysis, secondly reconstruction, the former always leading and controlling the latter Now this dual task is a complex and exacting one That it is nevertheless ' worth while' cannot be doubted by anyone who has sufficient respect for man to value the faculty Let us remember again that the subjectwhich exalts him above the other animals matter of history, archaeology and anthropology is the expressed reaction of the human brain, in a succession of manifestations which cannot recur, to the physical and spiritual problems of existence To exclude these reactions and manifestations from our thoughts is to deny a great part of our manhood and to become, however disguised, little more than human piedogs scrounging perennially for the next meal The three sciences which I have named are not, therefore, mere academic luxuries They are basic necessities in any society which has sufficiently emerged from the animalstage to expenence a sense of intelligent curiosity about itself They are, above all, not merely the prerogative of a few specialists and cranks whose enthusiasms are private to themselves they are, or should be, some degree a part of the intellectual equipment of I would beg those of us who are professed archaeologists every educated man and woman or anthropologists to bear this constantly in mind Our duty is not restricted to a narrow circle of professors we shall fall sadly short of that duty if we do not interpret also for the lay folk who are, equally with us, the co-heirs of the same inheritance. On the present occasion, however, we are a congress of scientists, and for the most part indeed I have referred to archaeology and anthropology as sciences True, a few moments ago I suggested that we should in some degree aspire to be artists also. But We are inclined to use the word science freely to-day science is more fashionable than art and sometimes rather loosely, and it is perhaps as well, before we consider the question of future planning, to determine a little more precisely the category of learning with which our special subjects are to be grouped It is fair to say that modern archaeology and anthropology are on the one hand increasingly employing the methods of natural science, and on the other hand increasingly
,

Thus

126

PLANNING FOR INDIA

atural sciences themselves. Whether it is altogether true to say, quite j are themselves sciences in the normal sense of the term, I am less certain For the mind can never wholly comprehend itself, Tbest, inexact sciences in objectify his rock and (within the far-off boundaries of ultimate causes) ^ncompass it. The astronomer can even reduce the universe to objective d chemical formulae. But it is inevitable that to the mind, dealing with There is on earth no impartial abjective element shall always be present my. Humanistic science is fated to be an inexact science

us regrettable conclusion, we need not as scientists despair of our estate. Tvery long way to go before, in our human studies, we attain the limits of Our discipline is objective truth and impend unsupported upon the abyss of subjectivity Or, rather, it is a synthesis of sciences and in our planning, at which primarily a science I have now at least arrived, that is the controlling and informing factor The problem to-day is primarily and urgently this how are we in India to harness the natural sciences of man 7 How are we to create or coordinate the academic in the service of the study apparatus necessary for the analysis and objective understanding of his variegated achievement and environment through the ages 7 In reconstructing the reactions of Let us glance at the dimensions of our problem man to circumstance and experience, we have first to set the stage, to reconstitute the physical The plan of his environment is the province of environment of his thoughts and deeds The changing geography , the cross-section of his environment is the province of geology climate which apportions his working year and may involve vast movements of population make climatology an essential study The plants which obstruct or aid his progress, feed The baffling but crucial problem of or warm him, bring botany largely into the picture * human races*, and of the sequence of faunas which have in varying degree conditioned human economy, introduce biology into our day's work And now chemistry and physics have become our handmaids and will have an increasing share in certain of our studies A formidable gathering of natural science has rallied round the science of man and without Let me stress this with ail possible emphasis it to-day the science of man has no meaning archaeology and anthropology can no longer be fobbed off with an odd lecture here and there in the arts curriculum They have become faculties rather than departments of knowledge This is a basic factor in our planning, and, before going further, I will pause for a moment to amplify a little the actual contributions which natural science makes to-day to humanistic science In India, the study of what may be called human First, let us take geography Years ago attention was drawn to the subject in an excellent geography has not begun short paper in the Indian Antiquary, but this momentary lead has not been followed And yet, of all regions of the world, India, with its combined continental and peninsular
, , ,
,
1

characters, its alluring coastal tracts, its great rivers, its vast plateau and vaster plains, and the mighty barrier of mountain which canalizes its landward approaches, cries It is now long since Sir Cyril aloud for the geographical study of its human history G. S. Crawford and others began the detailed analysis of European geography Fox, Mr. from this standpoint Fox's famous book on The Personality of Britain' set the standard for this type of research as long ago as 1932, and that book was but the climax of much previous effort. What a fascinating task awaits the Indian scholar or group of scholars who may feel moved to produce an equivalent 'Personality of India*' And then geology. The mineral wealth of India is a familiar fact, and has been a constant stimulus to foreign trade which has, in turn, reacted upon Indian history. But

Richards, 'Geographical Factors in Indian Archaeology', Indian Antiquary,

LXH

(1933), 235-43.

127

dealing with generalities I would not insist unduly upon that aspect oi with astonishing geology'. Civilizations of a high order have subsisted wealth ; the Indus valley civilization of the third millennium B C. is an examj upon geology as a localizing factor that I would dwellboth in the form* varying tractability, and in the form of surface-soil of varying fertility. which the builder has constructed his tombs and temples and palaces, and
<

partly

The Deccan Trap ot the centre can massive medieval temple-architecture of the same region And, on the provided a tempting medium for the cave-cutter of the Buddhist penod the north the scarcity of rock in the great plains encouraged there the negative side, development of the brick-building which informed the evolution of the Northern school Or again, the fertile alluvium and loess of the Punjab and its Sind extension of architecture induced that amazing development of prehistoric urban life to which I have referred, whilst the Jumna-Ganges Doab needs no archaeologist to proclaim its civic fame Integral with the geographical and geological factors is that of climate, which may either enhance or neutralize other advantages, and may stimulate or narcotize human the rainfall will mean In Asia, with its enormous terrain, a few inches variation effort. the life or death of millions of human beings, the migration of vast populations, the nse and from central Asia has indeed been and decline of empires The rhythm of invasion attributed unreservedly to rhythmic changes of climate, and, although the problem is a complex one still far from solution, there can be no doubt that the theory contains an It is manifest, for example, that the derelict cities the desert important element of truth of the Negb of southern Palestine flourished less than fifteen centuries ago in a climate considerably more equable than that which ill-sustains a few wandering Bedouin at the The same phenomenon is apparent in northern Afghanistan, where Balkh, present day the Mother of Cities, the ancient meeting-place of routes from China, the Mediterranean and India, now as a chaotic rum dominates a scene of almost utter desolation Or, to come nearer home, the desert of Sind where the gaunt walls of Mohenjo-daro have reemerged from the sand must, in the third millennium, have been nourished by cyclones that have long receded northwards, thereby not only depopulating the flanks of the Indus valley (save where modern irrigation has intervened) but at the same time placing a natural and It was, for instance, this significant bulwark between southern Iran and Rajputana bulwark of desert, more than any other factor, that barred the eastward penetration of 712 Islam after the Arab conquest of Sind in A The part played by botany in the reconstruction of human environment is obvious, dealing as it does with food-plants and their cultivation, the character and distribution of forest and jungle, and the influence upon plant-life of geographical, geological and climatic But there are three points which I would emphasize in connection with botanical factors research First, there is the great importance to our studies of further work in connection with the ecology or distribution of food-plants. Whatever be our definition of the term civilization, there can be no doubt that stability of food-supply is a necessary premise,

VS^hed

the

'

and that agriculture therefore is an essential factor. Thus, in tracing the early diffusion of civilizations, we have constantly to consider the distribution of cereals, notably wheat and nee, without one or other of which human progress beyond a certain point would Here in recent years the Russians have contributed interesting scarcely have been possible
1

Mr
its

which

exploration should help to solve

Evert Barger has recently re-directed attention to this site and to the climatic and other problems The Geographical Journal, CHI (London, 1944), Iff

128

PLANNING FOR INDIA

our reconamplified and verified, will have far-reaching implications prehistory Working from the axiom that the original home of a plant region where its most numerous species are found, the Russian Vavilov an early home of the bread-wheat l This is, for us in India, ^Afghanistan It is remarkable indeed how often our ^fcrue paths of research lead us that unknown country We may trust that the time is now not distant in neighbours may open their gates freely to the scholars of the world.

*'c

'

the importance of the recovery from ancient soils of the evidences of the pianr-nfe which was contemporary with them and with the human evidence which It is over twenty years since this matter first received systematic they may contain attention in connection with humanistic studies ; and now, under the lead in Britain of the University of Cambridge, the analysis of soils for the recovery and identification of plantseeds has become a matter of routine as a sequel to archaeological excavation in the West 2 In favourable conditions, by pollen-analysis it is now possible to recover the essential elements of the vegetation, and therefore of the climate, of remote and alien phases of the world's history or prehistory. The process is as indispensable for our studies India as But at the present time there is no laboratory it is in Europe India to which we poor In other archaeologists can, as a matter of routine, send soil-samples for pollen-analysis words, a whole avenue of research is closed to us My third point under the heading of botany really comes under the sub-head Here the lead has been taken 'dendrology % and relates to the study of the growth of trees Douglass, who has successfully applied the data of tree-growth to by an American, A a the prehistory of man The principle is a simple one, although its accurate application As every schoolboy knows, a section across a treeinvolves a number of complexities trunk reveals a number of concentric rings of varying width, each ring representing a year's a dry one seasonal growth, which will be extensive in a wet year and restricted Working western America upon trees up to 3,000 years old, and cut down at a known date, Douglass has shown the possibility of producing backwards a tree-ring time-table and climate-chart, which can be recognized a rhythm or periodicity as shown by the varying size of the These periodical fluctuations approximate closely to the cycle of sun-spots, growth-rings and reflect directly the fluctuations of climate which are related to that factor In trees that have grown up in a climate with marked seasonal changes, which produce clear this tree-chronology and accurately measurable rings, a considerable degree of precision can be achieved , to such an extent that, in a given region, it is possible to correlate the ancient inner rings of young trees with the outer rings of old trees, and to place trees used the time-scale structures into their proper place Thus, though the written history of America does not begin until the end of the fifteenth century, it has been possible, by tree-ring analysis, to date a prehistoric pueblo in Arizona to A D 1185 How far this remarkable method may be applicable to India I do not know it has not been tned out, although useful basic studies in the formation of growth-rings have been

ul signs. point is

m m

I Vavilov, 'Studies on the Origin of Cultivated Plants/ Bull Appl Botany and Plant- Breeding, XVI J B S Haldane, 'Prehistory (Leningrad, 1926) , Harold Peake, The Origins of Agriculture (London, 1928) A E Watkms,J>> The^Ongin of the Light of Genetics *, The Inequality of Man (London, 1932), pp 70ff = r-::5=iist Cultivated Plants ', Antiquity, VTI (Gloucester, 1933), 73ff 2 For a see J Clark, general account of pollen-analysis in northern Europe, of Northern Europe (Cambridge, 1936) 8 Summarized XI (1937). by F. Martin Brown, 'Dendrochronology', Antiquity,
1 ,

G D

^ ^

129

ANCL
carried out here

were beJ though there the seasonal changes are probably not sufficiently cle/nr In India, it is at least worth a serious trial. na accurate results Here, then, are three ways in which the botanist can help the arena not exhausted the possibilities, but have probably said enough to show that! an essential member of our team Biology, whether human or animal, touches our studies at many pS maitfcto^ are No sustained attempt has yet been made to traOB oj>pecific familiar to us all variations of the Indian fauna in relation to human chronology, anomuch work will, it is to be hoped, be done in this matter when the fieldworker is able to produce Meanwhile there is a perennial biological problem on our adequately classified matenal door-step, whether we be archaeologist or anthropologist: the problem of the definition The need for an objective definition of this ill-used word is as insistent of the term Race A quarter of a century ago the problem seemed as are the difficulties in the way of solution The criteria of race were primarily skull-measurement, stature and to have been settled The measurements of bones were standardized with great precision, and, coloration. though the recording of the colour of skin, eyes and hair remained somewhat subjective, I need not take you a general all-round agreement was reached on this composite basis But more recently these criteria have been widely further over the well-trodden ground questioned. There has been an increasing tendency to affirm the control of environment, And alongside this growing not merely upon coloration, but even upon skeletal form scepticism, the value of blood-groups as race-indices has been acclaimed with a somewhat rash optimism Here, m the composition of the blood, we have a phenomenon susceptible to objective classification, a genie character determined by heredity and not, so far as is * Four main blood-groups have been isolated and labelled known, affected by environment The scope of this classiinternationally A, B, AB and O, with a number of sub-groups fication is not yet sufficiently clear for final judgment by the anthropologist the task of collecting accurately grouped data is a huge one, and vast regions of Asia which are But it is already apparent that bloodimportant in this context are difficult of access For instance, groups alone cannot supply the need vaguely indicated by the word Race as Dr. D N Majumdar pertinently observes, 'the predominance of B in India and Mongolia 8 inhabited by different racial stocks requires explanation'. Furthermore, the speed and And the knowledge conditions of mutation are unknown and perhaps variable factors that the higher apes possess the same blood-groups as man raises a doubt whether these mutations are sufficiently modern and sufficiently sensitive to assist the explanation of We do not at present know It is any significant human groupings within our reach possible that a combination of skeletal and blood-group data may eventually give us the nearest approximation to a scientific definition of Race. The problem is full of interest more so perhaps in India than in most other parts of the world, for the variety and rigidly cellular structure of Indian society, with its traditional endogamy, offers a special scope for trying out the validity of blood-group analysis in a relatively restricted field. Exactness in the classification of data, and plenty of them, are the first requisites of this study my list of sciences I come to our old friends, chemistry and physics Old Lastly a new guise The scientific analysis of soils and gravels has, in recent years, friends but
workable
in
its

by the Forest Research Institute West Africa, and before the war

There

is

some evident

possibilities

Europe

m m

K Ahmad

Chowdhury, 'The Formation of Growth Rings

in Indian Trees*, Indian Forest Records

(New
*
3

Series), Utilization, U, Nos 1-3, 1939-40 J B S Haldane, op at , pp 63ff , J. Millot,

Races and Cultures of India (Allahabad,

N D ), p.

'Blood-groups and Race', Antiquity, IX (1935), 399ff

54.

130

PLANNING FOR INDIA

\

Many
.

it has become no longer a luxury but a necessity to have contributed to this study, but the protagonist Zeuner, a refugee from Germany under the Nazi regime and now a

to a stage where
scientists

itam
ite

There, at the British

Museum

(Natural History) and the University

of Archaeology, he has developed analytical technique and collected bearing upon the environment and chronology of man from the earliest nparatwely recent periods By mechanical analysis he separates sands, and other soils into individual grains and so determines their different The method is based upon the suspension of a certain quantity of the matenaHn^ater, the coarser and heavier grains settling down more rapidly than the finer In many cases it is possible to find out in this way whether the grains were deposited ones For instance, originally by wind or by water a vital factor in the reconstruction of climate comparative analyses of wind-blown dust deposited on snow, on the one hand, and of apparently identical dust from river-silt, on the other, have shown that 80-97% of the wind-blown grains are as small as 007-001 mm. or even less, whereas only about 66% of the water-deposited grains are of that minuteness On this basis it is possible to determine by analysis the general conditions of climate, etc under which ancient soils were laid down, e the conditions of climate under which man contemporary with these
;

soils lived

Furthermore, by analogous methods (including chemical analysis) which I need not attempt to describe to you now, it is possible to determine whether a deposit has been In other words, it is possible to reconstruct objectively subjected to secondary weatherings a climatic sequence, important not merely in itself but as facilitating a comparison between analyses from different regions and so producing a chronological relation between those regions the essence of the comparison being that an extensive and complex sequence of climatic changes occurring at similar intervals in two regions may be taken to imply approximate contemporaneity for the two series of deposits It is common knowledge that the Similar to mechanical analysis is gravel-analysis the story of man are interleaved or punctuated by the emphatic incidence earlier phases of climate of arctic or pluvial type, which may itself be diversified in a multiplicity of ways. The most informative index of these climatic variations and sub- variations is provided by successive river-beds or terraces, and the analysis of samples of gravels from the different The terraces of the same river is capable of producing a remarkable body of information gravel is passed through a set of sieves of graded mesh and is thus itself graded according Each grade of the gravel is then sorted into the different varieties of rocks and to size These minerals composing it, and the result is usually represented in percentage figures l figures may yield the following information (1) Any alteration of the catchment area, and the relative period of each alteration relation to the sequence of terraces (2) The date of volcanic events (3) The relative age of glaciations which invaded, or touched, the river area , detected by the introduction of the pebbles of foreign rocks is of a vaned character, the composition (4) In certain river areas, where the gravel of the gravel can be reproduced in the form of a curve showing the respective frequencies of the components in the various grades. The form of the curve a dry climate is influenced by climate during the deposition of the gravel hard but chemically little resistant rocks (like felspar) survive even into the
,

1 I am abbreviating from F Archaeology (London, 1937), p 42.

Zeuner, First Annual Report of the University of London Institute of See also same author, Dating the Past an Introduction to Geochronology

(London,

1946).

131

ANCL
small grades, whereas m a wet climate chemical action and rapid destruction ensues.
is

When studying systems of river-terraces hi this way, we may expect to sequence of climatic events, with (in favourable circumstances) fossil And this evidence has in a number of ca closely correlated with them with the parallel evidence of soil-analysis; so that, in the aggregate, a climatic phases and human cultures has been worked out in those regions
j

'

studied adequately But the marvels of Geochronology, as this new application of chemic I have spoken so far analysis to humanistic science has been called, do not end there only of the relative chronology which the study of these sequences has produced. Already, 4 The climatic however, this technique is reaching beyond the relative to the absolute fluctuations which have been established, based on the work of a great number of authors on loess-sections and river-terraces, have surprisingly been found to agree closely with certain fluctuations of the intensity of solar radiation, calculated on an astronomical basis ' This enables one to arrive at probable approximate dates for the palaeolithic cultures By dates in this context are meant absolute dates, a fixed chronology Thus it has been deduced provisionally that the oldest palaeolithic culture of Europe flourished approximately from 550,000 to 470,000 years ago, and an absolute time-table for the later cultures, in relation to glacials and inter-glacials, has also been worked out The method is still the experimental stage, but it represents a line of advance which deserves further exploration how does India come into all this 9 At present not at all But the raw material is here in abundance have great rivers, rivalling those of Europe have ancient industries, often resembling closely those which, Europe, Dr Zeuner and others are If we have not the same wealth of glacial material beginning to put into a time-scale which sub-Arctic Europe accumulated, we have evidences of pluviation which await analytical correlation with the pluvials of Africa and, indeed, with the glaciations or mterthe absence of geochronological research here, Meanwhile, glacials of Europe itself we have no right to apply to India, even provisionally, the results of European investigation must stand upon our own feet or, rather, we must get going upon our own feet prepared for the possibility that India may extract from these methods a different answer Be that as it may, the roots or mankind in this sub-continent, extending downaltogether wards probably for hundreds of thousands of years, can never be studied adequately
'

Now

We

We

We

best

somewhere in mdia we set up a geochronological laboratory and tram some of our young scientific brains to work it Well, there we have an imposing array of sciences, all of which contribute to our special I have studies, and, furthermore, none of which can nowadays be neglected in them. said nothing of what may be called the more domestic technique of archaeology itself, and I am not sufficiently experienced as an anthropologist to venture into the special In archaeology, much could be said nowadays problems and methods of that sister-science of the increasing subtlety of the technique of excavation and much, above all, of the essential value of air-observation and in archaeological fieldwork, particularly in a air-photography Who country such as India with its vast spaces, often difficult of approach on the ground knows what a systematic air-survey of the Thar or Indian Desert might reveal, or of the great plains themselves with their teaming vestiges of age-long habitation? The time has come for something more than attractive obliques of the Tfii Mabfil. The taking and interpretation of air-photographs is today in itself an evolved technique. In the northuntil
,

F E Zcuncr

m The Geological Magazine, LXH (London,

132

1935), 361ff.

PLANNING FOR INDIA

Indian Air Force has already taken a number of excellent photographs Once more, the ability is there, but it needs stimulus and coordination, rs since the Germans led the way in this archaeology from the air ', ars since air-photography was first generally recognized as a necessary In Palestine and Iraq the most aeological research in Great Britain e been yielded by this method of detection and correlation Let us going in India, not in the opportunist fashion in which it is on very erated at the present time, but on an organized, carefully thought-out basis we may from the Survey of I reasonably expect, think, cooperation rR I F., and also before long, it is to be hoped, from Indian civil aviation n, in the barest outline, are the main factors for consideration in planning the The problem is a formidable one _ 'study of the material heritage of India. It is evident, as I remarked earlier, that the primary need Kpbssible of solution scattered lectureships of a more or less amateur kind sprinkled broadcast over the
al
*
*

is

^^^ n3PR

academic landscape, though these might ultimately have a certain utility in a secondary The real need is for a centralized school of archaeology of a highly specialized kind sense Without that we cannot hope to raise humanistic science in India to the international level which is its rightful place But let us not despair before the prospect of so much concentrated specialization, or the immense budget which that might seem to imply At the ' All over the world we present time one of the more popular slogans is 'coordination

And find coordinating committees, with super-committees to coordinate them in turn Most (not all) now, in our particular need, coordination supplies a great part of the answer of the sciences to which I have referred are already being taught and studied in many of What is needed is that in some one of our universities these the Indian universities departments of science shall be in a measure adapted specifically to the requirements of
humanistic research that geologists, for example, may be persuaded to give more attention than at present to tertiary and quaternary geology, even though it be of less immediate economic value and, incidentally, more elusive and difficult in itself; that botanists may develop the technique of pollen-analysis and the further investigation of plant-ecology in relation to human problems that somewhere in a physical laboratory a section may be All this can be achieved by a relatively set aside for the analysis of soils and gravels But behind it all must be the slight expansion of present equipment and enterprise. trained archaeologist busy in the blessed act of 'coordination'; stimulating, inspiring, driving, even wheedling, his fellow-scientists into a combined concern in this great central The modern archaeologist and I have no doubt that the same study of mankind, Man thing applies to the modern anthropologist must be as much a diplomat as a scientist. He must be a scholar, he must be an organizer amongst busy men, he must be a leader and not least, his directed enthusiasm must be such as to ensure the cooperation of his He must be employed colleagues and the creation of a following of worthy shape and size by a university equipped with scientific departments and sympathetic to humanistic studies He must obviously for a while be sent abroad for such technical training as his country may not yet be in a position to provide In due time he will require the assistance of a These various desiderata are easy to set down on paper , but they small departmental staff are also not difficult or disproportionately costly to realize in fact Amongst the youth It is for us of India there is, as I well know, the zest to learn and the ability to achieve of an older generation to provide the essential apparatus and the necessary opportunity. Let us not fail. Now, I submit, is the time to act. R. E. M. W.
,

133

TECHNICAL SECTION
2

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PHOTOGRAPHY

By SQUADRON-LEADER
// is

B. COOKSON,

RAF

unnecessary to stress the high importance of good scientific pi .^^ 4_, inadequate photographs are excessively abundant in archaeological *ken so fauid these notes may be of use as a reminder of some of the essential factors involved Already/}Leader Cookson has had many years' experience as a photographer to aK? climatu// mthc and as an instructor in archaeological photography. expeditions
theless,
'

A
1.

GENERAL

The standard of photography cameras and material can be accepted as almost perfect depends therefore upon the knowledge and judgment of the individual photographer more than upon his equipWe may have complete confidence in our materials , it remains to understand fully how much can be ment done with them, i e in what way we can press these tools into the fullest service Accepting that cameramanipulation is now automatic, then the whole of the mind can be given to the production of a photograph which (a) is a good, sharp, clear record, (b) tells at a glance what has happened m the archaeological sequence, the final report, a piece of work (r) has artistic merit, and (</) having all these things becomes, on reproduction to which to turn with pride. 2 Assuming that the finished photograph has all these things, let us look back and see how the result was achieved It was not done alone it involved co-operation with site-supervisors, knowledge of the site and all its peculiarities, the maintenance of photographic site-notebooks for personal reference, and keeping up-toThe notebooks will also provide data for future photographs and possible retakes, since it date with work Thus will contain all details relating to time, position, exposure and niter used
To-day
lenses,

Ranch i
Site
1
1

Sect

South face
3 sees

45 hrs

10* lens

Strong sunlight Red filter F 22

B
3.
1.

EQUIPMENT

The archaeological photographer

Stand camera (for
full plate,

m the field needs the following equipment

half plate and quarter plate)

2
3

Four
Three

lenses (short,
filters

middle and long focus, and telcphoto) (green, yellow and red).

4
5

Bubble-level

6
7.

9
1

11

Assorted scales, including two or three small scales divided into inches and centimetres Pair of scissors Lump of plasticine Exposure metre Pocket camera and spare films Sheet of glass for photographing small finds. Sheet of black velvet for ditto.

12

Notebook.
134

C
is

ADMINISTRATION AND RECORD KEEPING

ease of access to negatives, and, to this end, all negatives made and approved should jal vial No , orientation, the page in the site-supervisor's notebook, and, if possible, the the general plan or the Drawing No (see below) It is quite simple to do all this in the the dark slide, and the work should be carried out with w yy waterproof ink and a mapping ivelopes are used for storing negatives, then the same details will be added to the envelope, ' of printing paper used in the print Thus, if the Negative Register is ever lost produced
ils would still be available In the same manner the keeping of a Negative Register is o receive all the foregoing details but with an added 'Remarks* column in which notes matters as the existence of lantern-slide negatives of the same subject, or whether the negative Lf ntion, the date and reference of publication being given

DIAGRAMMATIC EXAMPLES
NEGATIVES
2V7

NEGATIVE BAG
237

RANCHI

SITL E

SECT X

RANCHI
SITE E

SECT X

SOUTH FACE HUMUS REMOVED

NOTEBOOK

10
15

41

DRWG No
10SECS

KODAK BROMIDE GRADE 5

NEGATIVE REGISTER

D
5

EXPOSURE AND PRINTING

a plate or film rather than to under-expose it It is Exposure preferable to over-expose is wrong to under-develop, because a fully-exposed negative, Except for a highly experienced photographer, it or a different speed of printing paper may be used to correct a dense fully developed, can be reduced chemically,
negative The quality of the negative decides the type of printing paper to be used 6 Printing paper four kinds of printing paper, and their use is as follows
(1) Soft

There are

the high lights are clogged or grade paper, used for hard, somewhat dense negatives in which dense and the shadow-detail obscured with average tone-values (2) Normal grade paper, used for a normal negative and shadows. (3) Contrast grade paper, used when negatives lack adequate contrast between high lights used with thin, weak negatives, or for printing photographs of outline plans (4)
Super-contrast paper,

7.

them

in

and drawings. For purposes of reproduction, prints should be glazed This can be done by (a) hardening a saturate solution of alum or a 20% formalin bath, (6) then rewashmg them in water, (c) then placing
Glazing
135

ANCI&
If they stick to them face-down on a clean and well-polished sheet of glass until dry be removed without damage by soaking the back in water , this will save the print but will

r,

When photographing within 45 degrees of the sun, it is essential to* Halation hat or book or sheet of cardboard will serve the purpose. exposure to avoid halation
8

It is important that, before Levelling exposure, the base of the in both directions with a bubble-level

9.

camera shoul,

E -LENSES
a general tendency to use lenses with too wide an angle or too short a lenses facilitate the inclusion of the subject within the limits of the plate, but only by sacnlfcjM* \ " A wide-angle lens will flatten and distort the subject, and so falsify it and g* perspective *J The golden rule is to use a lens with as narrow an angle as possible, i e with a& long a focal lei * reaa v It is recommended that not less than three lenses be included in the equipment of the archJ grapher for a whole-plate camera, eg (1) 7 to 8 inches focal length (wide angle), (2) 9 to 7f Climati;,a i
10

There

is

^?
.
*

length

(medium

angle)

12 to 14 inches focal length (narrow angle)

telephoto lens

is

a useful idi

iutho

F.
11.

FILTERS

to use filters or colour-screens to emphasize certain groups of The use of filters necessitates a longer exposure according colours, e g in photographing a stratified deposit to the colour used The following filters should be included in the equipment
(1) (2)
(3)

The photographer must be prepared

Green filter, necessitating an exposure 6 tunes as long as the normal Yellow filter, necessitating an exposure twice as long as the normal Red filter, necessitating an exposure 4 tunes as long as the normal

factors apply only when panchromatic or red-sensitive plates are used With orthochromatic or yellow-sensitive plates, only green or yellow filters are effective, and the multiplying factors are as follows with green filter, the exposure will be 9 times the normal with yellow filter it will be 5 times the normal The general effect of the green filter with panchromatic and orthochromatic plates is to eliminate greens and yellows and thus to emphasize reds and blacks The yellow filter with panchromatic plates will reproduce colours with the tone-values observed by the naked eye With orthochromatic plates it will lighten yellows up to light orange, and will darken all blues The red filter (used only with panchromatic plates) will lighten all reds and yellows, darken all greens and blues, and will separate red from black
,

The above multiplying

G
12.

SCALES

Whether the photophotography cannot be over-emphasized graph be a general view or a 'close-up' for minute detail, a scale should always be added, placed in such a manner that it is unobtrusive, yet there when A formula for scaling cannot be laid down, but there are one required or two points which should be observed
scale or scales in
(i)

The importance of a

A
A

large general view of the site may require three survey poles, placed respectively in the foreground, the middle distance and the far distance, in order that each portion of the photograph may have
its

own appreciation of size, according to its distance from the lens close-up or a small area will require only one survey pole (in) 'Finds' such as pots in situ, small ironwork and other small objects will require only a small scale (iv) The scale can be easily constructed of wood painted alternately black and white, carefully sectioned in inches or feet, centimetres or metres
(11)

(v) It is

important that an upright scale should appear vertical in the photograph. the scale will have to be tilted proportionately

If the

camera

is tilted

It remains then that each photograph must have a scale, and that the scale should be suitable to the type of Should the human figure be used, photograph, the guide being common sense and a sense of what looks correct IT MUST HAVE THE APPEARANCE OF BEING EMPLOYED, ic should not be staring at the camera but should be posed in the action of doing something. Neither should it be exactly in the centre of the picture, but slightly to one side In all cases there be a scale, whether human or linear.

MUST

136

H.

LANTERN-SLIDES

taken in making a negative or a print, even greater care must be taken making lanternlantern-slide may be very great enlargement which takes place in their showing iic on glass, but the actual size is now only 3$ inches, whilst its ultimate projection print on the screen or at least 40 diameters The slightest dust-spot or pinhole is therefore

methods of making
i

lantern-slides

from ordinary negatives;

either to re-photograph

slide negative, or to reduce the original negative to lantern-slide size in an enlarger. made from book illustrations, etc , by photographing on a lantern-slide negative.

B-stram and keep attention, the tone of the slides should not be kept to black and white,
f the

type of picture, brown or sepia being used for suitable subjects alar slide is required more than once during the same lecture,

it is preferable to have in the correct places to enable the lecturer to proceed smoothly without waiting or

:>us slide

^
1

.,

o* r|R|eltegaUves

MPHT* snould be viewed, if possible, through the lantern before being handed overato the lecturer can
always carry the original negative number, and an indication that included in the negative register.
I.

slide

has been

made should be

CONCLUSION

In the foregoing notes the importance of the work of the photographer has been stressed Almost the production of first class photographs The final everything depends on good craftsmanship and pride photograph appears in published form and may go into every corner of the scientific world , therefore it has to be perfect It must tell its story at a glance, it must be technically correct, it must be a first-class print from
19

A good clear record, if possible with artistic merit, can only be obtained by constantly negative site, the changes made by a changing light on the subject, absolute cleanliness, and care and attention to small details , precision, fidelity and sincerity in all work, and justifiable pride the knowledge that your photoa
first-class

watching the

graph

is

an

essential factor in the science

which you serve

137
Published by the Manager of Publications, Delhi, and Printed by Norman 41 A Lower Circular Rotd, Calcutta

Ellis,

Baptist Mission Press,

ributions dealing with the archaeology of India and iapJni4fecent lands are invited to Ancient India. They should be cott&se and adequately documented, and should include new matter or a new treatment of old matter. Articles merely reproducing familiar facts or views will not be accepted.
Illustrations

may be either photographic or in

pen-and-ink,

but must be of high quality.

Typescript (on one side of the page only) and illustrations should be submitted to The Director General of Archaeology in India, Archaeological Survey of India* Central Asian Antiquities Museum, Queensway,

NEW DELHI

CONTENTS OF NUMBER
Notes
Repairs to the Taj Mahal S. Vats .. By

(JANUARY,

1946)

. .

4
8

The Chronology of Prehistoric North-West By Smart Piggott A new Hoard from Taxila (Bhir Mound) .. By G. Af Young
.
.

India
.

. ,

27

Pottery of Ahichchhatra (U.P.) By A Ghosh and K. C. Panigrahi

4

..37

Adilabad

A Part of the

Fourth* I>elhi
.

By H. Waddington

.60
.

Technical Section. Notes on the Preservation of Antiquities in the Field By Khan Bahadur Mohd. Sana Vllah

77